Effectively Balancing Stress and
Emotions
Stress is the number one cause
of a myriad of diseases from
diabetes to heart disease to
even cancer. Stress, when not
given a proper outlet, can cause
emotional issues which then lead
to physical problems requiring
medical attention. How does one
balance the stresses (good and
bad) of life and the emotions
resulting from too much stress?
Here are a few suggestions that
may help:
1. List all sources of
stress. Identifying the key
sources of stress will help you
eliminate probably half of that
which causes you undue stress.
For example, if you work with
someone whom you don’t really
like, and that causes you
unnecessary stress, you can
eliminate that particular
stressor by avoiding that person
as much as possible (even if it
is your boss!). Once you’ve
identified the different sources
of stress, you will be able to
figure out which ones you can
eliminate and which ones you
will have to work diligently to
overcome.
2. Determine which
stressors cause the strongest
emotional reactions. Some
stressors are obviously more
difficult than others. For
example, if you find out one of
your friends or family members
has been diagnosed with cancer,
you will naturally have an
initial (and ongoing) emotional
reaction.
One way to help balance your
emotions is to talk with the
person and determine how they
are coping with their new
disease. Their attitude may
help you determine to have a
better attitude about their
disease, which will release the
burden in your heart.
For stressors that are not as
critical, for example, if your
car breaks down on the highway,
you can remind yourself that the
stress is temporary and will be
relieved once the car is fixed.
3. Choose your battles.
Not everything is a crisis.
Learn to choose which ones are
more critical than others, and
this will help you manage your
emotional reactions to different
stressors.
4. Choose your attitude.
Circumstances can steer us, or
we can steer ourselves in spite
of our circumstances. If we
allow the circumstances in our
lives to dictate our emotional
responses to stress, we will
live in a perpetual state of
emotional, stressful chaos.
Choosing to see the positive
even in the worst of
circumstances can help relieve
your stress and lower your
emotional response to many
challenging situations.
5. Good stress. Most
people who are having a child
are excited about the
opportunity to become parents
(whether it’s the first or the
fifth child). Likewise, getting
married, changing jobs, going to
college, retiring, or even
simply playing competitive
sports are all sources of “good”
stress. The key in preventing
good stress overload is in how
you manage this type of stress.
Too much of a good thing is
simply too much, so try to
manage the good stresses
effectively so as to ensure the
health of your body is
maintained as well.
Overall, try not to execute too
many changes in one year, as
your body will shut down after
too many years of good or bad
stress. Your mind can
differentiate the two; your body
cannot, and will lead your
emotions to believe your body is
under attack, thus raising your
blood pressure and decreasing
your emotional barometer.
Effectively managing key
stressors in your life will help
you determine your emotional
responses more impact-fully.
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