Attention is the currency of the mind... Nothing happens consciously unless we give it our attention. Our awareness is the most fundamental thing we possess. The more we can focus and attend to something the more energy it receives and accumulates. Thus the axiom, energy follows thought. Where thoughts go energy flows. The ramifications of this are immense. Whomever  controls your attention controls your mind.

Now ask yourself how long can you sit with your phone (4-6 hours daily average US adult) and how long can you sit with yourself? Who's controlling a majority of your attention? Our amygdalas have been hijacked, We have been conditioned by our society to focus on our fears and anxieties. The physiological, chemical process of an emotion in the body lasts ~90 seconds. But the mind will continue to hold on indefinitely so long as we keep ruminating. 

Instead of focusing on "what's wrong" and feeding it more energy we can break the feedback loop by focusing on our positive resources and creating space for the solutions to emerge from within.

Now pretend for a moment that all of life is an opportunity to learn, grow, and evolve. Especially our challenges...

The secret is to cultivate and practice a calm relaxed state of focus on something passive like breathing or walking. Something that can be done mindfully. This healthy habit leads to strengthening of our prefrontal cortex, specifically our GABA fibers; which plays a role in our amygdala response. The strengthening of this area of the brain allows us greater control of our response to stress.