Back-to-school activities and events are underway, causing stress for many. The high temperatures heat up stress levels to boiling points much faster.
The calendars are crowded with . . .
• Teachers preparing classrooms
• Parents and grandparents are purchasing school supplies, clothing, and enrolling children
• Churches are having special parties or giveaways
• Families are having last-minute vacations
• College students are packing and saying goodbye to family members
Busy schedules, depletion of funds, and high emotions coming after a summer of rest and relaxation, bombards us with increased stress.
Routine is around the corner, but we have to survive first. Here we are, trying to tame our excited little lions into playful kittens while time is tighter than a size 8-foot squeezing into a size 5 shoe.
Good news. Our life doesn’t have to remain unmanageable due to stress. We can wipe it away as easy as wiping dirt off of a table. All we need is to learn and apply three keys.
1. Evaluate what is in your control.
2. Distract yourself
3.Think positive
Adopt these three keys to wipe away your stress
- Evaluate what is in your control.
When life goes sideways and stress enters, it is often due to lots of things being out of our control. Look at what you have to do and evaluate, dividing it into a list of what you can change and what you can’t.
Then, remember the Serenity Prayer and apply it:
“Help me, Lord, to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Pause and pray for wisdom before starting your list. Once done, thank God for showing you what you can do differently and ask Him to help you accept what can’t be changed.
This not only wipes away unnecessary stress but sets us free. It frees us, releasing our burdens and lets peace flow in.
Every time stress is thrown your way, stop. Decide if it is in your control. If it isn’t, learn to accept it. This is more difficult when the stress comes from relationships.
Free will is difficult to cope with as we have a natural tendency to want to control others or fix it for them…especially if it’s those we love.
Instead, choose to let it go, or choose to empower the person you can’t change.
What do I mean?
If you have a daughter, granddaughter, or good friend going through a rebellious stage not respecting herself, help her with information or resources. Guide her by asking questions about her future and if these choices and relationships will push her in that direction.
Doing this made You changed your focus from the problem out of your control to what you can control. How about that?
Another thing in your control is prayer and is usually my first response.
- Distract Yourself
Take a break from the stress, by distracting yourself. Keeping what you are stressed about in the forefront of your mind, only compounds the stress.
You can:
• Sit down and call a friend
• Listen to 15 minutes of your favorite music
• Take a walk
• Take a bath
• Read a good book or watch a comedy
Many relaxation techniques exist. Find 2-3 that work for you and make yourself do them at least one to two times a day. It works best if this technique is applied when you are the most stressed.
- Think positive.
Stress mostly comes from things out of our control so the first key is the most important one mentally. The second key immediately helps change us physically and mentally. This third one is more of a lifestyle preventive measure.
Thinking positive wards stress off right off the bat. In other words, when stress strikes, immediately find something positive in the negative situation and you will minimize the stress. It is like already having the rag in your hand ready to wipe with.
Before long, you will have an abundance of positive rags at the ready to keep stress from building up.
EVERY stressful situation can teach us something, or provide an opportunity for us to teach someone, so when scurrying around dealing with overwhelming schedules, unruly children, little sleep, and no money to pamper yourself, REMEMBER TO apply these keys and treasure something in each moment.
Using them will tame a lion and turn it into a nice pet while wiping your stress away— before things get too messy.
© 2023, Jena Fellers. All rights reserved.
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