10 Stress Busting Tips

Stress is a normal reaction to our environment (our stressors). If we don't experience stress then we would be emotionless or we simply are not human or we're already dead. The point is you can never totally remove stress from your life, because stress is needed for normal functioning. All you can do is control it. We get easily stressed from our jobs, our relationships, and even other simple things like waiting forever in a line. This is normal. Everyone gets stressed out from their problems. What is abnormal is if you would turn to drugs or other promiscuous activities to get you through a bad hair day.

fighting stress is really simple and you don't have to destroy your life to get through your problems. Here are some simple steps that you could follow to help control your stress:

1. Be yourself and do not play roles. Trying to be the “liberated women” or the “cool businessman,” for example, will only create stress because you are not being yourself.

2. Seek people who are pleasant to be around with when choosing your friends. Where possible, avoid contact with those who criticize you or like to constantly talk about the negative situations around them.

3. Be confident enough to admit your fears. Find out what scares you and try to determine why. Discuss these things with a close friend or family member if necessary.

4. Work on a confident, yet realistic, self-image. Recognize that you have both strong and weak points. Build on the strong points and excel in these areas. Work at improving the weak areas, but realize that you can't do everything well.

5. Be willing to compromise with other people, as well as with yourself. This is a sign of strength, not weakness. To be rigid, to refuse to give in, or to insist on winning will create tension and stress.

6. Make time to get away, even if only in your mind. A few minutes of privacy each day, when you can relax and think, is important even for children. Find a way to do this even if it means getting up early or going for a brief walk.

7. Do not let worrisome situations drift. If there is unhappiness or concern in your life, try to do something about the problems. Procrastination and indecision only delay your stress and the problems tend to only get worse in time.

8. When you cannot decide what to do, always choose to do what is right. Cheating, deception, and unethical behavior can all produce guilt feelings which directly lead to tension and stress.

9. Slow down - literally. Practice moving more slowly. Low your speech when you talk and your pace when you walk. Eat with slower movements, putting down your fork in between bites. When you move slower you feel less pressured.

10. Avoid excuses. Blaming other people or circumstances does not help much. Take responsibility for yourself and your own actions.

***
Image Credit goes to: ~CLEMZ
List Credit goes to: Chicken Soup for Your Soul