Stress

“I am so stressed out”: This is a phrase I often hear. I have used this very phrase myself. Stress builds up over time and many times we do not handle the stressors adequately. Research has shown that stress causes fatigue, chronic pain, anxiety and depression; raises your blood pressure, triggers headaches, causes muscle tensions, suppress the immune system and makes a person become more vulnerable to all kinds of illnesses. How can we handle stress appropriately?

Do we take the fight or flight route because of lack of ability to control stress? If we ignore stress, it will not be corrected. Acknowledge that the stress is there, find out the root cause as you would with any other condition and find ways to solve the problem. One way to begin is this:

Call upon the name of the Lord”. (Genesis 4:26)

Stress comes in many forms and in our busy lifestyles it is hardly likely that anyone can live a stress free life. Over the years I have noticed that there were times when I felt stressed more than other times. Some of the times that I felt most stressed were when I was going through physical changes that caused discomfort.

I have found that during times of transitions stress is very high for me. For example: I experienced stress last year when I moved twice in on year and picked up fifteen extra pounds in the process.

Fear is another monster when it comes to stress and fear comes in many forms such as fear of death, fear of failure; fear of change and about the future. Fear because of past failures. Fear of the past is unnecessary and we have to emancipate ourselves from it in order to propel forward. It is dangerous to let past mistakes cloud your present thinking, because it will also ruin your future.

Stress on the job is very common in our society. Starting a new job is another cause of stress. Sometimes there is little or no support from the manager or your colleagues. People may also become anxious because their jobs are on the line, because their company is down sizing or closing. This is not easy for any one. I would like to encourage you to do a business Part Time for yourself while you still do your Full Time job.

Family circumstances is another cause of stress, which may come from the frustration of having to deal with family issues; such as decision making, financial problems, disagreements about how to raise the children, inability to create balance, being overworked, not sharing the responsibilities among other things that come in the realistic package of life.

Feelings of insecurity are another cause of stress in families and in the work place. Some family members become co-dependent because they take on the responsibilities of the addicted family member, because they do not want to confront the individual and arouse anger or cause discord.

Sometimes if they confront, the family member with the addictive behavior gets angry, because they do not want to change or they do not know hoe to change. Addictive behaviors put a strain on the relationship and causes worry and anger to build up.

Un-forgiveness, generational curses and strongholds are some other causes of stress that are often over-looked.
Procrastination also breeds anxiety when a project’s deadline is closing in and the task has not been accomplished.

Anxiety is the sister to stress. My coaches and mentors have taught me to do one thing at a time. Give it 100% and then move to the next. So now, I do not put things off until later and stress myself out at the last minute. I just do it now.

The pressures of daily life cause stress. People especially young women develop eating disorders, because they are stressed about their lives. They are not pleased with their weight or size. They blame skinny models for their self-destructive behaviors; they blame fast food restaurants and buffets for the obesity.

The battle of the mind is a major factor for stress related issues. Mind battles drain people of their energies. Taking responsibility for our thoughts and actions is a must. We have to stop pointing the fingers: Big finga neva sey look yah, it, always sey look deh. This is a potios term which means that people like to point out other people’s faults, but not their own. The late reggae artist, Bob Marley said: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds”

Be careful to guard your mind be aware of the things that you focus your thoughts on. When a thought comes to you that is unpleasant, recognize it, be quite and listen to what it might be saying.

Be careful not to shove it to the side, because if shoved away it will find a way back in and causes more cluttering in an already cluttered mind. Clearing the clutters of ones mind is a great way to de-stress.

Pauline Lewinson, Life Style Mentor and Successful Entrepreneur, is helping many become the next success story.