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Beating Stress By Ellen Corsi
You hear the word “stress” so often, almost on a daily basis. Stress has become a major factor to contend with in our lives. The question is how do you deal with it? What can you do to try to eliminate those sleepless nights, those jumpy days where you can’t relax because you have so much on your mind that you almost can’t function? I think the answer lies within each individual person, by identifying what is creating the stress in your life. Believe it or not, some of it or maybe even a lot of it can be avoided.
Let’s talk about how stress affects us mentally and physically. Mental stress can confuse our thinking, create over-thinking and pull us in so many directions that we can’t see what is really going on. It’s like being on a merry-go-round or a treadmill that just won’t stop, or a runaway train that’s left the station and it seems like there’s no stopping it. Mental stress can really play with your mind. The trick is to recognize it when it’s happening. When you do this, you have found the first step in stopping the stress cycle.
Physical stress is a whole different situation, or an addendum to mental stress. As our mental stress escalates, physical symptoms begin appearing. Some people lose their appetite when they are stressed. Others tend to eat everything in sight because they are so unnerved. Some break out in hives, have digestive problems and can even start losing their hair over it. The lack of sleep along with mental strain can really affect everything and everyone around you. Your job can suffer along with your personal relationships. The trick is to start to identify what is causing the stress and finding a way to alleviate it.
I have found it helpful when “stressing out” to make a list of what is bothering me. It really does help to write it down. It quantifies the problem. It becomes tangible. You can see it, instead of rolling it around in your mind incessantly. It could be a problem at work where you are in an awkward position and you aren’t sure what to do. It could be a problem with money, your job, your home, a problem with a friend, spouse or relative. It could be a combination of issues that are all happening at the same time. By identifying and quantifying the problems, it makes it easier to deal with them, one at a time. It will give your mind a break to put them down on paper. It will also help to sort the problems in order of priority. What needs to happen first? Now you can start the process of relieving some of the pressure. By organizing your thoughts about each issue, you can start to resolve them and lower your stress level.
Sometimes people over-think things as well and get stressed when they really don’t need to be. Sometimes, things really aren’t as bad as our mind is telling us it is. Obviously, there are issues that are major in our lives that have to be dealt with, and do cause us stress such as losing your job, the death of a loved one or a relationship ending. However, there are many things that are small things we have to deal with that keep us running, not relaxing and actually feel like major issues. These are things that one needs to mull over. You need to ask yourself, are you doing this?
There are physical ways to break down your stress level as well. If you do something physical, your endorphins will kick in and relieve some or all of your stress. Here are some ideas on how to bring your stress level down.
1. Take a walk for about 30 minutes so that when you get home, you are tired. Go to a beautiful park and take a hike. Enjoy the outdoors and the scenery for awhile.
2. Ride a bike. But that I mean a bicycle. Remember when you were a kid and you rode your bike everywhere? It had to be the most freeing, liberating thing you could do. Think about it. You could feel the wind rushing by as you flew down the hill toward the Dairy Queen™ to buy a Peanut Buster Parfait™. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Try it. It’s a great stress reliever and it will make both your mental and physical stress levels drop. It’s amazing the things you see and hear while you are riding your bike, too. There are a lot of things going on that you never notice when driving in your car.
3. Play a sport that you enjoy. Play a round of golf, or tennis or basketball, softball or touch football. As my mother used to say, “Go outside and get some fresh air!”
4. Visit somewhere nearby that you’ve never visited before. It could be an art gallery, a historical spot, a winery or anything that interests you to visit.
5. Find a festival or a fair to go to. This time of year there are a lot of them to choose from. The entertainment is usually pretty good, and the food is always excellent. There are usually all kinds of arts and crafts items as well.
6. Take a vacation. How many hours a week do you work? When was the last time you just took a vacation and had some fun? If it’s been awhile, book it. Even if it hasn’t been awhile, do it anyway. If your schedule doesn’t allow it, hang out somewhere away from home for a couple of days, on a weekend. Visit a friend you haven’t seen for awhile, or one that you have seen recently, and just hang out and stop thinking about what is bothering you for a couple of days. Breaking your routine and doing something else for a day or two with a change of scenery does wonders for your mind and your stress level. It can give you a totally different perspective on your problems.
7. Do something that you’ve always wanted to do, but never took the time to do. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. Just think about it. Everyone has something that they’ve had in the back of their mind. Find yours.
These ideas may or may not work for you, individually. You are the only person who knows what will help you to alleviate your stress level. This process of identifying stress relievers can be life changing.
The next step is to decide to break your routine on a regular basis. Schedule some fun, stress free things to do ahead of time, or at the last minute. Do whatever works best for you, but get out and break the regular, ho-hum routine. It gives you something to look forward to and enjoy with your friends and family.
Creating a balance between the serious things in life and the fun, stress relieving things in life are very important. With the fast pace that everyone keeps these days, it’s easy to drop the fun things and let the serious things take over and allow an enormous build up of stress in our lives that in many ways, doesn’t need to exist.
Hopefully, these ideas will help you live your life a little easier with more fun and less stress. I’m going for a bike ride and find a Dairy Queen™. I think I need a Peanut Buster Parfait™.
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