Life is Hard! It is made up of infinite choices that we have to make constantly in order to navigate our day. Do we stop on yellow or do we keep going? I have found recently that those choices are getting less and less clear. The lines are starting to blur and I find myself second guessing my decisions. I find myself speaking then wondering why I said the words I said. They can’t be unsaid and that is the scariest thing of all. Some days I feel as if I am losing my mind, but the truth is I am simply a victim of stress.
We try to live our lives and have fun and be pleasant to those around us, while secretly holding in tons of stress. The sad reality is that stress is a killer! It will kill your desire to do anything because your mind simply starts to associate everything as a form of stress. Everything becomes a fight and every conversation an argument. You find yourself unintentionally pushing away the ones you love, because you simply draw yourself inward and no longer communicate. Why? Simply because you don’t want to fight you don’t want to argue you don’t want to burden them. You are trying to protect them but instead you are harming them and don’t even know it. All because stress has taken over your life it has consumed every waking thought with worry and doubt.
The hard truth is that there is no magic bullet to get rid of stress, just like weight it must be removed over time. You can not just simply walk away from it, but just like losing weight with exercise you can manage it. First and foremost you have to identify the areas in your life that cause you stress and second you must understand which ones are beyond your control. Focusing on trying to fix things outside of your control will simply lead you to more and more stress. We must look for the smallest thing we can change that will have a direct impact on our stress level. When I wanted to lose weight I figured out that an easy step was to limit the number of soft drinks I consumed. This was something simple that was within my control that showed quick results. It gave me a quick measurable reward. It made me feel good, made me feel accomplished. And that’s what we have to do to lower our stress level.
Maybe it is that one bill you dread paying every month, maybe its that one person you dread seeing, or maybe it is (insert your trigger here). I can’t tell you what to fix, what causes me stress may not bother you at all and vise versa. The important thing is to identify your triggers, isolate the ones you can control, then start removing them one by one. I can’t tell you how specifically, that’s something you have to determine. Maybe you sell something that has been just taking up space to pay off that bill you dread. Maybe you adjust your schedule to avoid encounters with that person that stresses you at the coffee shop. Whatever it is that you need to change or fix to reduce your stress level, do it today. Don’t wait….waiting will only increase anxiety about the situation and increase stress levels. And if what you try doesn’t work the first time, its OK, just try a new approach or focus on a different trigger.
I want you to know first off you are not alone. Others are fighting the same battles as you are. We are here to help and sometimes just talking about a situation is the easiest way to remove the stress around it. I’m no doctor, I’m no guru, I’m simply a guy going through life. Life is Hard! Don’t quit, don’t back down, don’t simply exist….take life head on. Live it with all you got and enjoy what you have while you have it because time is fleeting and there is never enough. Don’t let stress steal it from you.
