Thursday, September 8, 2011

Facing the Stress Monster

Stress comes at me from all directions most of the time: there are bills, work/life balance issues, high-maintenance customers and sometimes annoying co-workers, not to mention the stress of trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up while you're all grown up and everyone's waiting for you to make up your mind already.  That's right, I admit that many of the aspects of my life that are good can also bring stress.  So, what is the correct way to deal with it? 

I started thinking about this a while ago when I was listening to a friend tell me about a situation that was inundating her life with stress.  I felt so bad for her and at the same time, seeing her pitfalls helped me realize that I shared in some of the same bad habits.  I realized, after losing track of time while we talked, that all that talking hadn't actually made her feel much better about the situation. 

Later that day I started to think of what better ways there might be to deal with stress and I scribbled the following notes:

  1. Venting doesn't actually make it better, even though it comes naturally to us.  Limit ventin to one email or one 5-10 minute conversation.
  2. Offer it up to God (suffering, problem, concern, annoyance...whatever).
  3. If needed, dedicate 20 minutes to problem solving session on paper by yourself.
  4. Choose to improve your day by MOVING ON and LETTING GO.
  5. Tip the balance by incorporating something good into your day (time with someone you cherish {not venting}, walk in nature, clean something, work out, play an instrument, read a good book, watch a movie you love, take a bubble bath, etc.).  The idea is to do something that you love that will make you feel better about your day.  For some people or situations it might be something productive that makes you feel proud and accomplished, for others it might just be something relaxing and enjoyable.  Try to avoid things that are only momentarily gratifying.  For example, I have to avoid shopping when I'm upset because I'll make impulse purchases and later regret spending the money on something trivial.  Basically, find a safe haven for yourself to get away from the thing that is stressing you out.
Obviously everyone's different and everyone has different beliefs and coping mechanisms, but I'm going to try to incorporate these things into my life more fully.  I'll be sure to let you know how it works out for me, and if you have any tips, I'd love to read them in your comments!

JMJ

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I like the tip about doing something to make your day better and forgetting about the stressor/bad thing that happened. I was remembering my honeymoon and how tired I was on the plane ride to Florida and these little kids were kicking my seat the whole entire flight (the mom was sitting next to them and didn't do anything...she said that they were just being kids). Now, I'm going to forget all of that and focus on the good-like going away with my hubby! :)