Take a Rest From Stress

Have you been experiencing bouts of doubts, uncertainty, or defeat? Life’s situations and events can sometimes become overwhelming, breaking down your desire to move forward. After experiencing a series of “unfortunate” life situations, which led me spiraling downward into an abyss, I’ve learned to perceive my circumstances differently. This has allowed me to move forward with a new positive outlook on life. The following article was generated after reviewing Judith Sach’s Break the Stress Cycle: 10 Steps to Reducing Stress for Women.

Mothers of the world, do you feel incapacitated by thoughts of defeat where you can no longer hold down a full-time job, make improvements with your house, support your husband when he gets downsized, go swimming with the kids, find a nursing home for your sickly parents, volunteer for the school gathering, and run a little business out of your house in your spare time? Chances are you are stressed! You are most likely perceiving these your life events as difficult, threatening, unpleasant or challenging. Although you may want to change your situation for the better you simply cannot. As a result, you have succumbed to these thoughts of defeat.

This is what is causing your feelings of incapacitation. Physically, your hypothalamus, or master gland in your brain has sent hormonal messages to your adrenal glands to produce stress hormones. These stress hormones, adrenalin, norandrenalin, and cortisol are increasing high levels of activity of your nervous system. When this happens, you feel stressed.

Are your muscles tense, your heart racing, or your palms sweating? Are you developing knots in your stomach? Are you feeling tense? Are your pupils dilating and your hearing becoming more acute? (Are you “seeing” and “hearing” the enemy better?)

Do you wish to prevent illnesses leading to hospitalization? Do you wish to prevent your immune system from depleting its ability to fight off potential diseases?

If the answer is “yes,” then it is time to take charge of your life. How can you begin to live a stress-less life when everything you do and everywhere you go brings on more stress?

The answer is ultimately “YOU,” because stressful situations or events remain a fact of life. There are good stresses as well as bad stresses. Biochemical changes occur in your body whether you’re feeling great or miserable. It doesn’t matter whether you’re planning for a graduation or a wedding or being called into your angry boss’s office.

You can control your stress reactions. As soon as you perceive something stressful going on, you may choose to either allow it to overwhelm you or you may choose try to stop it in its track. You may think about it differently, avoid it entirely, or you may learn of ways to combat it. Your goal ought to be to achieve balance where you are relaxed so that you can fight the stresses that come along your way.

How do you feel?

The following open-ended questions are intended to provoke some deep contemplation of who you are. They are designed to put you on a path of self-awareness. It is a path to being more aware of your strengths and joy. The questions are also to bring you into an awareness of your weaknesses and stresses. There is no right or wrong answer to any of them. Simply answer each honestly and thoughtfully.

• How do you feel right now?
• What are you thinking right now and how can you relate those thoughts to your feeling?
• How would you describe yourself?
• How do you see your future?
• What kind of work do you like?
• What kind of leisure do you like?
• When do you feel most yourself?
• How have you changed since puberty? In what ways are you exactly the same as you were as a teenager?
• What kind of people do you respect?
• How are you different from or similar to your mother? To you father?
• What are your greatest strengths?
• What are your greatest weaknesses?
• What goals do you have for yourself?
• In what way might you work on those weaknesses to modify them that they could be managed?
• What would you be proud to have written on your tombstone?