Have you ever felt that incredible weight of the world on your
shoulders, spinning out of hand? I’m here to show you ways to relieve
that overwhelming feeling of stress that just sends you reeling into
the pit of doom.
1. Step back and find the humor.
Today
I was visiting with a friend, after several months of missing her. I
mentioned that my son was out of control these days, and we talked
about how we’d both threatened our sons with not making their next
birthday if they didn’t settle down. Neither of us would do anything to
hurt our sons, and they know that. But suddenly we both felt the humor
in our empty threats. Their behavior seemed less extreme and we knew
we’d be able to get through the next moment because we were laughing at
the last moments.
2. Go ahead and cry your heart out.
Tears
are cleansing. Allow your tears to wipe clean the heavy burdens you’ve
carried. Accept that part of life as what it is and move past the
stressor to a new step. Sometimes we forget the blessing of rain upon
dry land. When the storms come, the land may be barren, but as sure as
the raindrops fall, there’s life beneath the surface.
3. Focus on the tasks at hand.
Sometimes
we focus so much on the issues that we forget our work to be done right
now. When we let go of the issues and stressors; we give them to God so
we can turn our focus back to what has to be done right now. Living in
the moment often reduces our stress. When we can’t change the past, and
the future is just out of reach, we can stay focused on the moment and
life becomes simpler.
4. Stay the course.
When
stress dumps on us, we’re often tempted to make radical changes in our
lives, adding more stress onto the heap of changes that we have to deal
with at that moment. But we don’t have to react to stress with more
stress. If we choose in that moment of time to simply stay the course,
do what has to be done to deal with whatever issues we’re faced with
and keep our course the same, the results are two fold. We remove
additional stressors. And we give ourselves time to get past one
stressful time before we must stress again.
5. Chuck the stress.
You
know you want to chuck it. So, for the moment, do just exactly that.
Chuck all the stress and go for a walk, take the kids for ice cream,
get a manicure, give yourself a pedicure, but do something that totally
distracts you long enough to clear your mind and focus on the issue.
There are times when this isn’t a realistic suggestion, but other
times, this is the only solution that even remotely is feasible. Look
it over, if nobody is bleeding, nobody is dying, chuck the stress for
some instant gratification and then go back and face your lions with a
fresh face. |
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