by Kate

“Life is hard”
A favorite saying of my father.  Boy, was he right.  Every day it seems we’re buried under a barrage of demands that threaten to overwhelm: bills to pay, school deadlines, and all the little things that pile up and cry out for our full attention.  Add all that up and you’ve got stress.

Stress is a small word with a big impact.

Stress covers a lot of territory: it branches out to affect us on every level, physically, psychologically and spiritually.  Our body reacts by flooding our system with excitatory hormones, primarily adrenaline and cortisol.  These are the same chemicals responsible for eliciting the “fight or flight” response and are intended to help us be our most alert for dealing with potentially life threatening situations.  Now, it’s a bit of a biological over-reaction when the matter at hand is just an overdue assignment, but our chemistry does not differentiate between procrastination stress and sabre-tooth-tiger-gonna-eat-ya stress.

As the floodgates are opened, our brains and bloodstream are shot with go-juices, and our heart rate goes up, muscles tense, and rapid thoughts fly all over.

Enhanced Performance Comes With a Price Tag.
In the short run, we can benefit from the release of these chemicals when under pressure.  We become sharper in our thinking and our bodies are ready to react quickly and efficiently.  Whether it’s a work presentation or a deadline for an essay, all of our internal resources are clicking along nicely.  However, there’s a high price if the tension state is prolonged.  Long term stress is damaging to your mental and physical health and ends up being a hindrance to your productivity, not to mention your happiness.

There are many simple steps you can take to reduce your stress—and an expensive health club membership is not mandatory.

Body and Mind.
Any way that you can increase your physical activity is good.  It doesn’t have to be a formalized workout, replete with an “outfit”.  Just taking the stairs, getting in a daily 15 minute walk or adding a self-devised stretching routine to your day will make a difference.  Our bodies respond by entering a more balanced state, bringing the brain along for the ride.

You are what you think.
Yesterday I was feeling frazzled and it was taking a toll.  Stop being stressed!, I thought.  Gee, that was easy. Of course, it never is that easy.  When we’re most stressed we are least capable of problem-solving coping strategies.  Making up your mind to quit feeling stressed is harder than it sounds—but it’s actually within reach.

You are probably your own worst critic, and stress can put you into the down-spiraling loop of negative thinking.

I’m not suggesting that you assume a “Happy Appleton” persona.   Aside from being nauseating to behold, that type of strategy only suppresses real strain under the surface.  It is akin to holding a beach ball under the water.  No one can see it, you are constantly exerting energy to keep it hidden, and it threatens to pop to surface with the slightest provocation.

Interrupt your automatic negative thoughts and replace them with objectivity.  Instead of “I’ll never get this all done!” force yourself to come up with a plan that prioritizes and puts tasks into bite-size pieces.  Just like in What About Bob? with his mantra of “Baby steps. Baby step to four o’clock. Baby step to four o’clock.”

I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.
–Bill Murray in What About Bob?

Thinking of that movie makes me laugh and puts things into perspective.  There is truth in that simple advice.

Have some fun.
My father also said we should always find a way to have fun in this life. Make it life-affirming fun, the kind that doesn’t leave you with an extra burden of guilt or regret.  Notice the little things in a day that make it worth experiencing.  And do not miss the chance to smile (even laugh) when the opportunity presents itself.