Stress Awareness Day is here and here’s how you can learn from what the day represents. There is no day necessary that explains stress than your personal experience. However even though the way that others go through stress varies there are certain things that we can learn and adapt to our personal situations. Here are a few key items to keep in mind when dealing with stress.
Stress is Universal
Yes, understandably it doesn’t matter what your status in life is or how much access to resources you have. If you think that being in a better disposition than someone else is going to save you from stress you are sadly mistaken. Biggie said, “Mo money, Mo problems.” There are times when money can fix issues. Ask someone who is stressing over their rent if having the money on hand will fix it. That money will change the issue at hand but doesn’t resolve the issues that got them to not being able to pay. Is it overspending in one area over another.
Stress and Mindfulness
When we are stressed, we often lack the ability to be mindful. Mindfulness is the art of understanding what you are feeling and giving you the ability to be present. Stress allows us to be in our “own world.” Normally people do not take care of themselves as well. It’s the not eating well, lack of sleep, skipping workouts, and more that come about during a high stress moment. How you can get back on your feet after a stressful moment defines how long you allow the stress to overcome you. I have had moments when I was good at this and other times I don’t.
Stress and Body Talk
I have written so many blogs on how stress affects our body. Physical ailments come along when we allow stressed to go unchecked. I used to get panic attacks in college. It wasn’t until a few years ago when I learned that so many times that I was under pressure. During that time, you couldn’t tell me that I wasn’t having a heart attack. Thankfully I wasn’t. Learning that my body reacts to my stress is even more reasons to check my stress. But how?
How to check it?
- Write it out: journal
- See doctor to talk about if it’s stress or health related or both
- Ask a friend-do they think you live a stressful life
- Partners can be a great help or cause (figure that out too)
Stress Relief Go Tos
There are a million and one ways to help curb your stress. Inside of placing a band-aid on it, consider the source. I used to get stressed around my birthday or Mother’s Day. Through therapy I started to understand the stress had to do with my thoughts of my childhood.
So, the Band-Aid came in the form of celebrating myself like my Toibration. However, I took the band-aid off by dealing with my issues around my dad by meeting family members from my dad side. This helped me to start the healing journey surrounding the pain of my birthday.
Don’t Covet it up
You can cover up your stress with quick ways to minimize and you should do so. In addition, after you figure out your why be proactive to get to the bottom of it and start healing. Healing isn’t linear. I would love to be able to say that my birthday and Mother’s Day doesn’t trigger me, but I would be lying. My birthday is May 10th. So, I already started therapy to talk about it and move through it.
So today and everyday stress is on its way. You don’t have to live a stressful life just because stress knocks on your door.
Return to Sender
Have you ever had stress that comes from others? This was me yesterday. One of the besties when through a life altering situation. I was hurt for her. That hurt came over me and caused me to go into a depressive mood. To combat it I also started a new sleep pattern this week. So, I went to bed at 8:30pm when the younger kids went to bed. This helped me to process that my friend will be okay, and I returned the stress not to her but away from me. If you carry other’s pain with you like an empath its easy to live in an overwhelmed state of being. So, return to sender and be a friend, family, coworker, or more without letting stress over take you.
So today we don’t celebrate stress. We know stress is apart of life. Take on ways to be more stress less. You are capable and able to live a life that is full of joy and love.
