Too Much Stress Out In Your Life? – Slow Down & Take It Easy

One fine day, I returned home late from the office. Even though I was tired, I couldn’t fall asleep at night. Something was disturbing me. I was so surprised, as the reason behind my disturbed sleep was unknown to me. How can I be not aware of the things happening in my life and to me? Am I being so occupied with material things and losing my inner peace? I gradually started to identify the little things, which I neglected and were bottling up and not allowing me to settle.

In the world where we are 24/7 busy, how much time do we devote to ourselves? Do we take time out to cherish our hobbies, relationships, & happiness? We are so engrossed in the entangles of life that we fail to identify the stress piling up in our minds, so much so that the stress starts killing us.

Researchers have identified 70%-90% of illnesses are co-related or exacerbated due to the stress. Physical illnesses, such as hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart diseases, psoriasis, weight gain, weight loss, gastrointestinal issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, can occur due to the stress. Most mental ailments, such as depression, anxiety neurosis, panic attack, psychosis, obsessive compulsion disorder, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and a loss of sex drive have strong evidence of stress maladaptation.

We neglect the stress and expect the smooth functioning of our mind and body. When these expectations are spoiled, we start blaming ourselves and feel worthless.

With such an unhealthy attitude towards stress, the risk of developing stress-related illnesses increases.

How can We Deal with Our Stress?

The effects of the stress can be minimized by minimizing the stress itself.

Firstly, identify the sources of stress in your life and then

Eliminate it
Rethink – if it cannot be eliminated, find ways to minimize the stress level they cause.

Note that the stress is not caused only by the negative events or the things which we hate, but also it can occur due to the positive events or things which we love to have in our life.

Getting married, planning a vacation, getting a promotion, applying for a new job, planning to have a kid, and similar positive events are as stressful as bearing with an unsatisfied full-time job.

Since the stress is related to big positive events, we simply cannot eliminate and get rid of it. We have to develop ways to adapt to the situations and reduce the inevitable stress from our lives.

12 Helpful Ways To Manage & Combat The Stress

Here are 12 helpful ways to beat the stress and take it easy.

Give time to yourself: Spend an hour with self either reading books, meditating, performing exercises in the gymnasium, practicing yoga, and hiking on the weekends. Giving time to self helps to settle the hustle created unknowingly by self. Understanding self can let you know your strengths and weaknesses before undertaking any task/decision in life. This prevents regrets arising due to poor judgments and decisions.

Do what you love, love what you do: Choose your employment/career area, which you will enjoy doing. Respect your decision after involving yourself in it. Don’t let obstacles lose your aim. Indulge your spare time in the activities you love, such as traveling and listening to music.

Be sure of the things which you don’t want to do: Weigh the pros and cons of the things you opt to do. Certain things are undesirable for us without any reason or logic. If you don’t want to go for it, don’t push yourself with a negative mindset. If things are pretty important, take time to re-assess. If in doubt, take the help of your close ones.

Stop procrastinating: Everything comes with a time-frame. Doing things after the time passes signifies no value. You can push the task to the other days, but you can’t stop worrying about it. These piles up the pressure, which hampers the quality of work as well as your mental peace.

Ventilate your feelings: Talk it out. Express your feelings, disagreements, & dislikes. Bottling up these feelings leads to stress to self as well as to the other person, as he/she does not know the reason for you being upset. Instead of expecting someone to understand or notice our silence, speak it out. Make sure your expression is in a constructive and non-hurting way.

Accept changes in life gracefully: Life changes per second, but nothing stops a moving world. Don’t let your routine become so rigid that you can’t function when it is interrupted. Accept the change, & take time to adapt to it.

Know when to quit: Analyze self-worth. Don’t stand for employers, friends, & lovers who treated you badly. Don’t unnecessarily be available, and don’t let them take you for granted.

Eat wisely: A healthy diet helps our body to deal with the stress in a better way. Eat more plant-based foods. Avoid packed or preserved food as much as possible. Keep your body hydrated at regular intervals.

Cherish your relations: Let your loved ones know how important they are for you. Eat at least one meal together. Cry, fight, laugh together, and develop bonds instead of nagging alone.

Reflect with a positive attitude: Replace self-criticism with self-acceptance. Introspect and appreciate yourself for the things you thought you could not do. Praise yourself for the good qualities you carry along. Have gratitude towards others even to the critics because of whom you have grown better.

Laugh it loud: We tend to make mistakes in our life. Never hold a grudge. Instead, accept and develop yourself better out of the mistakes. Laugh on your silly mistakes – it’s OK to not to be OK!