Alleviating Stress – The Basics

As Australian television personality Andrew Denton has noted -
“PRESSURE AND STRESS IS THE COMMON COLD OF THE PSYCHE.”

Stress is a fact of life and a certain amount of stress, unlike
the common cold, can even be good for you – but too many
stressful incidents can prevent you from reaching your full
potential.

There is no magic wand to wave away stress – it takes a
determined effort to control your lifestyle to prevent stress
overload. However, the basics of alleviating stress are easy to
arrange and practice – it’s not rocket science – it just takes
time and more than a little effort.

First, plan ahead – be organized and prepared. There are
close-at-hand weapons available to you in your battle against
stress – a pencil and a piece of note paper. 

Many times stress is energized because we allow a tidal wave of
different and conflicting thoughts to flood our mind making us
believe the assignments ahead are too overpowering.

Prepare for tomorrow the night before.

Take the time to sit down with a pencil and paper and list all
the assignments you feel are important to complete the next day.
When all the tomorrow tasks are listed, redo and list each item
in order of importance. Finally, mark the time you think it would
take to complete each task – review the total time and when you
reach the time limit you feel comfortable with, draw a line
across the page – that’s tomorrow’s schedule.

One other important item when completing the final schedule -
it’s vital that your allow time for relaxing,exercising and to
eat a healthy meal – three more important weapons in alleviating
stress.

“IN TIMES OF GREAT STRESS OR ADVERSITY, IT’S ALWAYS BEST TO KEEP
BUSY, TO PLOW YOUR ANGER AND YOUR ENERGY INTO SOMETHING POSITIVE”
- Lee Iacocca

Something positive – great advice – but again, not easy.
Maintaining a positive attitude also takes a great deal of work
and commitment, but by following two basic fundamentals of
positive thinking,you can detour your life into a new affirmative
direction that will lower the stress level no matter what the
situation and, as a bonus,make you a happier, more contented
individual.

First and foremost – stop all the negative talk. Start today -
every time you utter a negative thought, repeat what you said and
change the negative into a positive. Make a game of it. Tell
those you trust how you are trying to change your lifestyle and
have them yell out “negative” every time you utter a negative
thought. If they catch you on such a miscue – you have to give
them a dime or some such reward.

Repetition is the key to changing negative thoughts into positive
thoughts. Come up with your own personal mantra you can silently
repeat to yourself to constantly remind you of your new positive,
less stressful lifestyle – the word “POSITIVE” is a good one to
start with.

Secondly,stay away from those who view life pessimistically.
Those who are unenthusiastic about life can drag you down faster
than a freighter’s anchor – join the people who make you happy -
better yet – be around people who you can talk to about your
feelings.

One more basic fundamental – find the humor in it – take time to
laugh loud and often – it’s the best medicine for alleviating
stress.

Again from Lee Iacocca – “STRESS IS WHEN YOU WAKE UP SCREAMING
AND YOU REALIZE YOU HAVEN’T FALLEN ASLEEP YET.”

Tagged as: Stress, stress management