Stress, Part 3

Hope you chose to incorporate at least a few of the ideas represented last week to avoid stress in your life.

Now, let’s discuss reducing stress.  How can you reduce stress in your life?  Here are 14 important concepts that I hope you decide to think about and act on:

1.        Learn to accept what you cannot change.  Don’t waste your energy.

2.      Take one thing at a time.  That’s all you can do anyway.

3.      Be prepared to wait.  Bring something to read, play a game on your cell phone, close your eyes and relax, or people-watch (always an interesting experience).

4.      Relax your standards.  Everything doesn’t have to be perfect (feel free to refer to earlier postings on this subject).

5.      Get enough rest and sleep.  Lack of sleep lessens your ability to deal with stress.

6.      Balance work and play.  Schedule time for relaxation.  After all, the word “recreation” comes from re-create.

7.      Talk out your worries. Share them with someone you respect and trust.  Another person may help you see a different side to your problem and, therefore, a solution.

8.     Avoid self-medication.  Alcohol and food only mask symptoms of stress.

9.      Establish a serene place of your own.  Use it to have time when there are no demands placed on you.
10.  Blow off steam, physically.  Physical activity helps to reduce the tension your body absorbs.

11.   Do something for someone else.  Get your mind off yourself for a while.  It will change your perspective.

12.  Find humor in the situation.

13.  Get help with the jobs you hate.

14.  Give in one in a while.  It’s a good way to start the give-and-take process.

For an informal assessment of your stress level, go to my website (TheLovingPath.org) to take the “How Stress-Prone Are You” quiz.  You’ll find the link on the left side of the homepage.

Copyright 2011 Lynn Borenius Brown


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