We all experience stress and we all handle it differently. Some are masters at handling their stress & others are minions. No not the cute little yellow guys off of Illumination Entertainment’s “Despicable Me” movie. Minion in this case simply means that stress is your overlord, you have no authority and you follow it wherever it leads you.
Ouch, that sounds so harsh!
I have been more of a minion than master lately. This is why I am sharing this information with you. We need to be aware of how we are handling stress.
So what is stress? Helpguide.org defines stress as your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. The Bing search dictionary says stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. Psychologytoday.com says that stress is two things: the psychological perception of pressure, on the one hand, and the body’s response to it, on the other, which involves multiple systems, from metabolism to muscles to memory.
How do you cope with stress? I cope with stress by eating, spending money, & I am way less focused. This controlling need comes over me. Yes, I said controlling instead of uncontrollable because I allow it to control me. I go looking for my keto approved snacks, but nothing is satisfying. Then an ad will pop up in my email and I find myself adding things to my Amazon shopping cart. The task at hand becomes so minuscule because I am stressing and allowing distraction to rule all. I am sure I don’t have to tell you that not being focused, eating, and breaking the budget only adds to the stress.
Stress is not always a bad thing. It can drive you to accomplish more than you would have with out the pressure. However if you are not overcoming it and it only is piling up then stress can & will takes its toll on our bodies so practice ways to overcome your stress. Here are some tips to help you become the master & stress your minion!
Pray, read the bible, & worship!
I believe that prayer, reading the word of God & worshipping are great ways to combat stress. It takes my mind off of me and my problems. Each one of these help to relieve stress for me.
Yes, I do actually do this. No, not all the time or every time but I am way better the older I get. When I stop, take the focus off the stress issue, pray, worship & read my bible then my focus is shifted and the thing that was stressing me is not as intimidating. I don’t do all 3 at one time, my usual go to is 1st prayer and 2nd worship. I would say reading my bible is the one that I don’t use as much, however it is not because it isn’t important. Bible reading & memorizing scripture are extremely important so you have it with you everywhere you go.
Plus you can pray, worship & read your bible anywhere you want in America and that is something to be celebrated. That is not the freedom everyone has in the world.
Do the task I am avoiding!
I have to face the music and just work on the task I am avoiding. Just like this blog post, I will fess up and say that I have been working on this blog post for 3 weeks because I feel very ill equipped to tell people how to overcome stress. I have studied and over analyzed it to the point that I finally asked myself “How do YOU deal with stress?” and then told myself to write that! I am here to help you and if you are here reading my blog you are here to see how I can help.
I know that once I have completed the task in front of me I will feel so much better, it won’t be as bad as I make it in my head, & I will be free to move on to other things on my list.
Another example of something that I avoid is the dishes. I love a clean kitchen, but cleaning it is a whole other story! I know that once the kitchen is clean I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and I am happy.
Take a deep breath!
Whether I do it once, one minute, or even for 5 minutes. Deep breathing is relaxing, lowers blood pressure and has a calming effect. So I take a deep breath or many and press forward. I can feel the pressure melt away.
Now the task or the problem is still there to be tackled, but now I am more prepared.
Create something!
I love creating cards, scrapbook pages, knitting, crocheting, quilting, & so many other things. However it is about having a hobby. Hobbies where we feel fulfilled are what is important. Maybe the thing you create is not made of paper or fabric. Are you an avid hiker, baker, decorator or a builder?
Then map out a new hike, find a new recipe to try, find things that can be used in other rooms in your house and rearrange, or are you one of the very talented people who can build a wall unit for your house, or hang sheetrock and make a new room. Do these things. Creating something triggers a part of you brain that relieves stress.
Do nothing!
There are moments when I have to give myself permission to sit down and watch a movie, take a bubble bath, or even read a book. Learning to schedule my days and stick to it is very challenging. I seem to be an all or nothing person. I am either scheduling every minute of everyday or I am so overwhelmed that I end up not doing anything on my list. To overcome this I have learned to make sure to schedule in free time each day.
Take the time and give yourself permission to do nothing. Don’t get me wrong this is not permission to nothing ever it is permission to relax for a few hours or a day and then get back to work.
If you are a person that doesn’t need many breaks in your day & you thrive on the go, go, go then make it a short 5 min. If you are like me & wish you could go, go, go and not get worn out, then schedule in a little more time. This will take some trial and error. I am still not at the perfect place I would like to be with this, but I am working on it and trying.
Exercise!
The last one I am writing about today is certainly not the last resort. Exercise is fantastic for releasing endorphins, those feel good hormones designed to help relieve stress. I love the idea of running and do it every now and again. Mostly I am a walker, so I go for at least a 10 minute walk. I know that 30 minutes is better and if I can, I will walk for at least that if not longer.
Exercise can be many things though. Some forms of exercise are basketball, hockey, football, pickleball, badminton, volleyball, ice skating, roller skating, skiing, hiking, bike riding and that is a short list. There are so many more things that you can do to get up, get moving and raise your heart rate. That is one of the key things for it to be exercise is that it raises your heart rate along with gets you moving.
Thank you for taking this journey one petal at a time with me. We will learn together. I appreciate you all.
Share in the comments some of your favorite ways to overcome stress.
Crystal