“It’s normal to feel pain in your hands and feet, if you’re using your feet as feet and your hands as hands. And for a human being to feel stress is normal—if he’s living a normal human life. And if it’s normal, how can it be bad?”
Marcus Aurelius
To feel stress is human. You feel stress, I feel stress. And no matter what happens in our lives we’ll all feel stress from time to time.
What matters is how we respond to stress, how we deal with it.
Maybe you were speaking to an angry customer at work, and they got you riled up. Maybe you got cut off in traffic and it pissed you off.
Whatever it is that’s got you stressed it’s important to have an outlet to get rid of the negative energy.
Here are some of my favourite things I do when I feel stressed.
- Take a walk. (30 minutes will do).
- Work out. ( It could be anything you like, weightlifting, cardio, whatever).
- Meditate for 10 minutes ( Try and focus on your natural breathing rhythm, and every time your thoughts wander refocus on your breathing to break the negative thinking cycle.)
- Focus on a project. ( This could be a blog or something to do with work/ business or personal project e.g. a hobby.)
- Listen to music ( This is one of the easiest things you can do to boost your mood.)
Normal Stress And Too Much Stress
If you’re chronically stressed this could be a sign that you might need to change a few things in your life or at least how you respond to the challenges you face.
For example, if you’re unfit and this is causing a great deal of stress (maybe you have less energy than normal, or it’s harder to perform general tasks).
Then the solution would be to consistently work out 3-5 times per week, drink enough water, eat a healthy diet and get enough sleep.
If an unhealthy habit is causing problems in your life. And is causing you stress, then the best thing to do is break that habit, which will enable you to get rid of the unnecessary stressor.
Why You Need To Get A Handle On Your Stress
In the book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers By Robert Sapolsky, Robert explains how chronic stress can cause chronically high blood pressure and when blood pressure is chronically high over time it can cause cardiac problems. Such as heart disease.
The Bottom Line
To be chronically stressed is not good for us. If we don’t get a handle on it, our health and quality of life will suffer. And this is why it’s important to focus on removing unnecessary stressors in our daily lives. And practice behaviours that will help us reduce stress and promote relaxation.
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