Table of Contents
STRESS MANAGEMENT A THREEFOLD CALL FOR ACTION.
Stress and the problems that accompany it has always been a popular topic but so often the same stale advice gets circulated.
In this article I will look at stress through three different filters and hopefully as a result you too will become acquainted with one of the most effective survival techniques I learnt through my journey in the Amazon.
A. Stress is our best friend – LET’S USE IT!
While being the number one killer of humanity by far, stress by design is the most potent life enhancing resource we have. It is a masterful designer drug; activated by fear and anxiety; honing every single faculty in our body and mind towards peak performance.
Sadly, we have turned this life-saving designer drug, into a most potent poison.
And why? Because most of the things we are stressed about aren’t actually going to kill us.
So our fight or flight responses get activated with nothing to actually battle. As a result the stress just sits, slowly boiling our blood under the surface with no effective outlet.
We’ve turned our best friend into our worst enemy.
But there is a solution. As the pressure continues to mount, and deadlines ebb closer, let’s channel that fight into something physical and productive.
Physical activity is most aligned with the nature of stress so it is smart to get physical with it; dance, run, play any sport, burn stress positively.
B. Stress is our worst enemy – LET’S LOSE IT…
Perhaps even better than learning to channel stress properly, is being able to adjust one’s outlook to no longer stress over things we can’t control.
Perception is everything.
You will often hear the saying ‘whatever will be, will be’. We can’t control what happens, we can’t control the outcome but what we can do is control our perception of the outcome. Perception is in command of our life, not circumstances.
While resonating as truth, this fact is so damn hard to apply.
When we’re anxious we’re so far from being in command of our perception; we react, we become victims of circumstance. But the truth is that perception is a choice, our choice, and like everything else it needs energy, some attention and practice.
We each have different sources of anxiety; we stress about our kids, our relationships and especially at this time of the year, work; we are anxious because we have unmet expectations of ourselves and of others around us and yes, money, we seem to worry way too much about money or the lack of it.
But all we have to do is identify the cause of our anxiety and release our attachment to it…Instead of stewing, thinking of the worst case scenario, sit for a moment and tell yourself ‘this is not life or death, have I done all I can to guide my client/husband/child? Yes, so now I need to let go, because whatever the outcome I will find a way to be fine.’
You may not believe it at the time but force yourself to think it over and over again and you will no doubt find your perception, and therefore your reality, changing for the better.
It is the stories we tell ourselves that make up our reality.
Perhaps the most important point to remember when we look to manage our stress is my next point.
C. Responsibility means – ABLE TO RESPOND
It is so easy to forget our wider perspective, to forget who we are, what the core values we commit to are, to place aside our desire for a meaningful and purposeful life.
We forget the most important things to us, and we fully identify with our daily issues, our work, our relationships and our problems.
If we take the time as we wake up, before we confront that so called ‘reality’, to remind ourselves who we are, to remind ourselves of our true purpose of meaning; we will be calling our higher perspective and life will align with it.
Committing to, each day, taking steps towards fulfilling your ability is the greatest gift you can give yourself, perspective.
