Stress and Stress Management

STRESS comes from seven (or eight, if you have kids!) 

different areas in life.  How much stress you have is determined by 

your RELATIONSHIP(S) with:

There is no such thing as “good stress.”

Stress wreaks havoc on the body, brain, and spirit.

Stress includes worry, fear, anxiety, hurrying, and competition and causes the brain to release CORTISOL, a corrosive hormone that triggers the fight/flight/freeze reaction, however slight the reaction may be.  Some have learned to call it "good stress" when it pushes us to increase our physical, intellectual, and/or emotional stamina; however, stress is not the only (or best) way to accomplish this.

Physical Body: Regular exercise releases endorphins (which sometimes causes that "runner's high" that athletes talk about but we regular people never seem to achieve), and exercise regulates the production and distribution of "feel-good" neurotransmitters. Combined with a good diet (which can be stressful to maintain), keeping the body in shape gives you sustained energy throughout the day. However, this is not enough. The "feel-good" endorphins get used up and re-absorbed within a few hours. (Drat!) So...keeping in shape may give you sustained energy throughout the day, but ask yourself: What am I using this sustained energy for?

Emotions: Are you aware of the various negative and positive emotions that get triggered

throughout the day...from the  moment you wake, to your final thoughts before sleep? How much energy do you use to suppress these? How much energy do you use to discharge negative emotions onto others, or to recycle them onto yourself (negative self-talk)? How much energy do you use in pursuit of things (food, drink, activities, spending money) that will “un-do” negative emotions you feel? All of these forms of dealing with emotions can cause long-lasting, recurring stress.

Social Contacts:  These include spouse/significant other, children, family-of-origin, friends, and colleagues. How much energy do you expend trying to gain appreciation and approval from others? Family can be a huge source of stress with time and emotional demands. (This is the subject of lots of comedy movies. If only our real lives were that hilarious!) How strong and consistent are your personal boundaries? How much time do you set aside for yourself (other than going to the gym to work out all that stress), just to return to social demands within a few hours? 

Intellect: Although the brain stops actively growing (creating new synapses) around age 25, the brain

creates and tosses around neurotransmitters. A deteriorating brain can cause deterioration in many other areas of life. Learning a new skill – ANY new skill, even just to “beginner’s” level – can have amazing positive impact on your brain and keep it “fit.” Crossword puzzles and brain games aren’t enough, just as 10 jumping jacks per day aren’t enough to keep the body in shape year after year. The brain is always hungry for new information, and a stagnating brain (with monotonous repetition) is a “stressed out” brain. (Reading this stress article counts as learning something new!)


Career: This is more than just "a job." Career implies long-term goals; a mission; meaning in life; doing your “thing” and being excellent at it; making an impact, however small. How much stress does your career cause? Do you look forward to getting up in the morning to continue doing “what you do?” Do you feel invigorated in the middle or end of the day for a job well done? How much stress is caused by not having the career you really want? How much stress is caused by not knowing what you want in a career?

Money:  This is typically the biggest “stressor” for most people, as most people have an unbalanced with money/finances. Many people report, “No amount of money will ever really be enough.” On a daily basis, how much stress do you feel while thinking about money? How much “positive” impact (happiness/excitement/relief) do you feel the day you deposit your paycheck? The amount of power that you give money is proportional to the amount of stress you feel surrounding each dollar you make or spend. Are you spending extra money to relieve the stress that money causes?

Spirituality: This is the ultimate goal in personal growth and inner peace (lack of stress). "Why are we here?"  "What is the purpose?" "What is my connection to my own higher power?" Ask yourself: How much time/energy do I devote to understanding and exploring what really matters - the big (big BIG) picture? Am I simply “surviving” by RE-acting to everything around me? Can I let go of stress and reach a state of inner peace within the turmoil? The answer is: YES…by taking stock and becoming acutely aware of your relationship to each of the 7 areas of life that cause stress.

SO...

Keen awareness is the first step to taking active control - by constantly recognizing (and “naming”) the positive, neutral, and negative stimuli/motivators in your life and re-evaluating their importance to you.

For each “little” stressful moment in your life, ask yourself, “Will this really matter five years from now?”

We make the worst decisions out of fear or anger.  The less stressed we are, the better our decisions will be, which will further reduce stress, which will cause a greater amount of better decisions.