Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, we're going to learn a practical four step process to face challenges in our lives. So the four steps, here's a quick summary of them. And then I'm just going to walk you through them more thoroughly. So the four steps are an acronym, F - A - C - E.

F stands for focus on what's in your control. A, acknowledge your thoughts and feelings. C, come back to your center in awareness. And E, engage in actions guided by your values. Okay.

So F is for focus on what you can control. So in times of challenge, loss or crisis, a certain amount of fear and stress is inevitable. They are a completely natural response to the more difficult times in our lives. However, we can often cause ourselves a lot of excess suffering by continuously worrying or ruminating about all kinds of things that are really not in our control. And while that might be a fairly normal thing to do for the mind, it simply isn't helpful.

So for example, you cannot control what other people are doing. You cannot control how governments are responding toworld events. You cannot control the future of the world or how something like the coronavirus pandemic will evolve. In fact, the more you focus on the things you cannot control, the more overwhelmed, disempowered and frantic you're likely to feel. So the most powerful thing you can do when you're facing any great challenge is to focus on what you can control and accept that for now, the rest simply is as it is.

And what we can control is our behavior. So you want to think about what you can do to make a positive difference, right? So A is for acknowledge your thoughts and feelings. So remember in difficult times what we don't want to do, we don't want to pretend that we're not feeling difficult emotions. We don't want to try and escape them or struggle with them. So just acknowledge your feelings and give yourself compassion for what you're going through.

You know, struggling with difficult emotions only prolongs them and makes them bigger. So you want to let go of the inner struggle and surround your thoughts and emotions with a compassionate and accepting awareness. C, come back to your center. So remember to find your center in mindful awareness. If you feel caught up, stressed or overwhelmed, just continuously bring in the focus back to the present moment.

Easy way to do this? Take a few deep, slow breaths. And E, engage in actions guided by your values. One of the most empowering things you can ever do in difficult times is take wise action, action guided by your values. Now your values might be things like kindness, courage, patience, love, playfulness, determination. Whatever your values are, connect with them, let them guide your actions.

Perhaps considering, what's one small step I can take? How can I look after myself and others right now? What can I do to change things or make them better? Research shows that focusing on what you can control and taking action shifts you from a state of helplessness to one of hopefulness and empowerment. In a time where you might've otherwise felt paralyzed, depressed, or overwhelmed, taking action restores your calm, clarity of mind and helps you find inner strength. I sincerely hope that this is helpful for you in tricky times. And as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here. And let's settle in for today's meditation.