Empoword Community

I’m not awake 5 minutes and the words start bombarding me: crisis, failure, bailout, recession, challenge, worst since.

Do you ever wonder how many times you have heard the word “crisis” in the last 2 months? Ever thought about what that is doing to your body, mind and spirit?

Every time I hear the word, I feel a shock wave pulse through my body. My anxiety level goes up. A mild panic takes hold. It is the fight-or-flight response kicking in.

The fight-or-flight response is an important bodily function designed to protect us from danger. Think: tiger attacking you in the jungle. Hormones and chemicals are released into the bloodstream that help you get your body to safety, in other words RUN!

But when you hear the word crisis, there is nowhere to run. The hormones and chemicals still get released. And, when we don’t need to run or fight, these hormones and chemicals do us no good. In fact, they can actually do us some harm. The trick is to turn stress off before it starts (ha!) or at least reign it in as quickly as possible once it does start.

Empoword is here to help. No, we don’t have a magic solution to the current economic situation. But we do have a strategy to keep you moving in a positive, less-stressed direction: see it, think it, be it. By putting a positive, affirming word on an object you see often, you literally see a way to move away from stress, fear and helplessness. Empoword products empower you to take control when you feel out of control. Words like breathe, balance and brave all help.

So does a dose of humor. Our new giggle mug has arrived just in time to help us all take the focus off the “crisis” for a few seconds and give us a chance to pause, smile, laugh and maybe even find a stress-free moment so we can giggle.

- Stephanie Ross
Empoword Co-CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer)