Conquering Stress

"MANAGING" STRESS

If you know me, even just a little, you know that my brain seems to challenge me and will focus on an issue that may be affecting me or someone I love. Or those I come in contact with who are willing to share a part of their day with me. Issues can weigh hard on me if I allow them.

Much of humanity seem stressed to the max, these days. The phrase one will most often hear from a doctors office is, "You need to manage your stress levels." Personally, I don't think that's even a possible thing one can do. Maybe a better phrase would be, "You need to consider eliminating something you are now being held responsible for, that isn't imperative you do." Then, possibly, your stress levels would diminish somewhat. Still...I doubt it. There will always be something that we feel responsible for that requires maybe a little too much of our attention. And what would one eliminate anyway? If you have a family, that alone can swallow most of your day. And we certainly can't eliminate the only thing that puts food on the table. Our work is vitally important.

But, the good news is this. We CAN manage our peace of mind. That, in and of itself, will cause stress to diminish to a level we didn't think possible. Or, at the very least, not destroy our health.

Maybe the situations that happen within a 24 hour period of time can be seen as opportunities instead of obstacles. Doesn't our state of mind determine how we deal with daily happenings? I know. I know... Too many "opportunities" can be piled way too high on our backs and will cause our focus to switch back to obstacles, feeling our hands are tied and that we just can't get ahead.

Maybe we could change our perspective. Here are a few things that have helped me when I'm feeling overwhelmed, or stressed. Hopefully, they can help you, too.

1) Where did I wake up this morning? Was it in a free world, or was it in a world with severely limited resources? Also, consider the fact I DID wake up.
2) Did I wake up with a roof over my head? If I did, I have a lot to be grateful for.
3) Do I have my own transportation, aka/car or truck? Many don't.
4) Do I have employment? Many don't.

Synopsis: We've been taught to focus on what's going wrong in our part of the world (in our personal lives), instead of what's going right. I'm not saying we should stick our heads in the sand and ignore the difficulties, the facts of living life, but to choose to see the light that is all around us while we're walking through the dark.

Maybe gratitude is the answer to conquering stress...

As always, here you will find me...in Mary's World