Are We Really That
Stressed?
by Maria Hammel
During the holiday season, I quite frequently hear on the
news experts giving advice on reducing the “stress of the holidays”. I’ve seen magazine article after magazine
article about ways to handle the stress of our busy lives. But what I never see is advice on changing
the way we perceive what is going on around us.
Maybe we need to alter our perception of our world so that what is going
on in your life is not stressful. After
all, aren’t things like the holiday season things we are suppose to enjoy?
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that stress does not
exist. We all have busy lives, between
jobs, kids, and the occasional hormonal war going on in our body, we definitely
have things happen to us that can very easily provoke feelings of being
stressed. Having gone through a divorce
and post partum depression after the birth of my first child, I understand that
some days can be a little much to take.
I like to call this “hitting tilt”.
But what I am saying is that stress is a very personal
thing. For instance, I see some of the
moms at my kid’s school running around like crazy complaining about how
stressed they are. They have so much to
do, and they can’t get it done.
Meanwhile, I’m at the same event with my work clothes on, having sat in traffic
for an hour, still needing to finish a paper for my Ph.D. program, and Sunday
school to help teach, and I’m not stressed.
The difference is in how we perceive what is going on in our lives. If you go into your day thinking “I have so
much to do, I’m so stressed” what choice do you have but do be stressed! You’ve already set yourself up to feel that
way during the day.
I find it is better if I look at what I have to do every day
as an opportunity. I approach everything
with a positive frame of mind. I allow
what could be stressful to actually energize me to get more done. I also schedule my day so that everything has
its place in the schedule. That way, I
feel less scattered, and can be more focused on one thing at a time. Staying focused in this way also allows you
to enjoy being in the moment. When I
take an hour to sit by my pool, I allow myself to enjoy that hour. I no longer let my thoughts wander to the
laundry that is waiting to be folded, the groceries that need to be bought,
etc. To help you determine what your
priorities should be, and what your schedule will be on a given day, think
about what is really important to you and what you will enjoy. There may be things you can remove from your
day, or things that can be done in a different way so that they can be
enjoyable instead of stress producing.
As I said, there will still be days when you hit
“tilt”. On those days, the best thing to
do is to first take a little time to quietly sit and figure out your plan for
the day. You may find that there are one
or two things that can be done on a different day. If your stress was due to worrying about
something, taking a few minutes to think clearly and plan may help you come up
with a solution that has been eluding you while your mind was buzzing in “full
worry” mode.
And, of course, attempting a little exercise can help. By exercise, I don’t mean you have to hit the
gym for two hours and then further stress yourself out over losing two hours in
the day (although I guarantee only good can come from that two hours!). What I recommend is a walk, even up and down
your driveway, to help clear your head.
You might even want to take a <a href=”http://www.adcentiveswest.com/tradeshow/products-page/tradeshow-giveaways/multi-color-globall-stress-reliever/”>stress
ball</a> or two with you on the walk to help with the nervous energy you
are trying to remove from your body. It
always amazes me how a stroll with the dog or a walk with the baby stroller
really gives me an opportunity to clear my head and think straight. And this gives you the benefit of fitting in
exercise without further adding to any financial stress you may have by signing
up for a gym membership.
Although you can’t fully avoid all stress, you can control
it by perceiving it differently. Think
of all the positive things that can come to your life by enjoying what is going
on around you and putting it all into perspective. As I’ve told so many of my friends, “Stop
taking everything so seriously!” And
make sure to laugh more. That is one of
the best ways to not only reduce your own stress, but share your
lightheartedness with those around you.
