Don't Let Stress Control Your Life

By Marlene McIntyre, CPC

Run! Run this way! Run that way!

I need you! Please do!

You must! It is expected!

We create as much stress on ourselves as what our families, our jobs and society heap on us. We add a little stress today and then top it up tomorrow. We keep adding it a little at a time, but it is cumulative. You are like an elastic band that will break when it is pulled just a little too far.

Society has never seen so many changes so quickly and the changes just keep coming accelerating faster and faster. We, society, are putting constant pressure on ourselves as we rush from one place to another trying to be all things to all people and it has a negative cumulative effect on our health. We can take control of our lives and lessen the effects of stress by learning to channel our stress in positive way.

Our environment, the distress we experience on a daily basis plays a tremendous role in the development of disease. Experts backed up with reams of data that the stress we live with contributes to early death for way too many people from heart disease, strokes, and cancers. Stress may lead to depression a leading factor in suicides and is the reason for thousands of lost time works hours every year. Stress on the job is a major cause of compensable lost days of production.

Many of us feel we work better with some pressure; it makes us feel alive, our adrenaline pumping through our bloodstream. For a time it may feel good, like we can conquer the world then another grain of sand is added to our metaphorical pail of life and the stress becomes overpowering then we run and hide or we become overly aggressive, in other words our fight or flight response kicks. Combine that with poor nutrition and a sedentary life-style and we create our own recipe for health problems both physical and mental.

It is the balance of stress, our ability to cope with it that is unique to each of us. Your ability to handle stress depends on your personality and your base coping skills that we learn in childhood. There are many things we can do to help ourselves, if we will. Help means that you find the balance of physical activity and psychologically, as well as finding faith to offset the effects it has on lives.

This may mean making some adjustments to your lifestyle. Strengthening your body through exercise and by eating a healthy diet can increase the body's ability to handle stress. You can decrease the effects of stress by learning how to relax and by taking control of even a small segment of your life. It will give you a safe haven.

Also develop a strong social support system and find positive outlets to help lessen your stressors. This will help you increase the amount of stress you can manage. Some of the hardest things for you to do and yet the things that will make the greatest difference to your stress levels is to learn how to change your self-talk and to learn to love and forgive yourself. A sense of humor will help you laugh at the world and yourself. Every cloud has a silver lining, look and find yours.

Finally, remember the two simple rules of stress management:

Don't sweat the small stuff.

It is all small stuff.

You will not get rid of all the stress in your life nor to you want to because you would be a dull, boring person.

Content provided courtesy of Marlene McIntyre, CPC
Copyright ©McIntyre Management Resources