One of my trainers shared the sad news that one of his family members had suffered a heart attack this week. When I inquired more about the circumstances of the person’s health, he said that they lived a life deep-seeded in stress. Stress management matters, more than I think we often give it credit. Stress is an insidious killer, to both our health and our happiness.
Stress management is an active, daily task that, if we want to live happy, healthy lives, we must engage ourselves in every day. Manage your stress. Just like a manager at any company must tend to daily little things in the behavior and performance of their staff, so too must you manage the stress contributors in your life. One of the most interesting things about stress is that it is less circumstantial than many people think and more dependant upon your state of mind about the environment around you. Stop blaming your life for the stress you feel and start taking control.
When I think of the least stressed people I know, they are among the happiest that I know. They are not exempt from stressful circumstances in their lives, they simply choose to believe that life is worthy of celebration. The thoughts we think shape our reactions to our circumstances. Guard your thoughts.
Make the conscious decision to disengage your mind from stressful thoughts. You are the only one that can break up your relationship with stress, and you won’t be able to do it by waiting for your circumstances to change because there will always be another curve ball thrown your way by life. Free yourself. It’s not necessarily our circumstances that need to change, it’s our own thought life that needs to transform. Change the way you think and you will change the way you live. It is possible to reduce your stress and to manage it, no matter what your circumstances might be right now, but you must be willing to make yourself uncomfortable by trying a new way of proactive, positive thinking.
Break up with stress. You really have nothing to lose and only happiness and health to gain.