Maintaining stress in your life is similar to that of a juggler trying to balance objects in mid-air; you must hold tension and keep a rhythm in order to keep the objects in motion. If you make any sudden movement, everything can collapse! Stress is similar; if you’re holding onto a hectic and fast-paced lifestyle, then your actions are constantly tensed and unpredictable. If you lose control at any moment, everything can fall apart!
This hectic lifestyle can become destructive if it is not balanced. While we all must encounter stress at some point, as stress is an unavoidable element of life, we can choose to deal with stress using concepts of balance. In fact, if we’re balancing stress correctly, stress can even become a tool that motivates us. Research shows that with a proper amount of stress, we are often encouraged to strive for change, as we become increasingly motivated to engage in efforts to bring forth better outcomes. But despite this potentially positive element of stress, an excess degree of this can cause imbalance and negative consequences.
Causes of Stress
One of the major causes of stress occurs when we feel that we’re pulled in too many different directions, or when we feel we have too many concurrent expectations and tasks. When this feeling occurs, it is essential to simply stop and evaluate your options. Reflect on the following questions in order to review your current stressful situation:
• Are all of these commitments necessary?
• Can any commitment be delayed or eliminated?
• What can I delegate to others?
While there are certainly many commitments and obligations that cannot be neglected or avoided, each of us deserve to spend just 15 to 30 minutes every day for simply ourselves! Spend time everyday to just reflect, read, take a bath, go for a walk, or watch your favorite television show. Any of these activities allows you tend to yourself before you go off trying to save the world with your many obligations! If you neglect this small portion of daily time for yourself, your stressors can take control, and your health may eventually be impacted in a variety of negative ways.
Types of Stress
While stress comes at us from a variety of sources, it is important to realize that many stressors are quite simply imagined. Stress itself is either real or imagined, as issues and negative elements of our daily lives ignite a variety of physiological responses. Essentially, once our stress triggers are turned on, our body responds with a release of hormones and neurological actions; and once this occurs, the process cannot be immediately stopped.
To fight against this physiological response, many experts assert that all people need to have an emotional outlet in order to vent out our inner stress and frustrations. If we do not find an outlet, then our stresses can be taken out on ourselves internally. These internal frustrations lead to side effects such as:
• Headaches
• Stomachaches
• Heart palpitations
Instead of bottling up anger, frustrations, and stressors, find a way to vent these elements in a safe and healthy way. By engaging in your positive outlet, you can better calm yourself, adjust your hormonal response, and reduce or eliminate your negative physical symptoms and side effects. Examples of stressor outlets include:
• Acknowledge the stress and write down techniques / strategies to improve your situation.
• Go for a run or exercise. This not only provides you with an outlet, but also provides you with a release of “feel good” hormones. In fact, exercise even destroys your body’s stressor hormones, which helps you to feel calmer faster.
• Go for a quick walk or take in slow and deep breaths. If you don’t have time for a full workout or a long run, simply walking and/or breathing slowly can slow your heart rate, alter your body’s chemical response, and provide you with an intake of oxygen, which helps alleviate headaches and tension.
• Listen to music, especially slow or catchy songs. These steady beats can help you to take a few minutes to pause, reflect, and clear your mind.
• Focus on the positive, and instead of thinking of the negatives, consider all of the positives that you possess. For example, make a list of all of the things in your life that you’re grateful for, or consider what has gone well for you recently. If you find it helpful, try journaling for a few minutes, or make a written list of the negative elements followed by a more positive element for each of your negative issues / concerns. By this approach, you can turn stress into gratitude!