Overcoming the Stress That’s Slowly Killing You

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Written by Jimmie Burroughs Email to a friend

Stress is one of those things that the body needs in order to function at maximum levels; however, it is the over-the-top, unneeded stress that harms the body. The body is somewhat like a fine stringed musical instrument; it requires the exact amount of stress on the strings to perform well; too little stress and the instrument perform poorly; too much stress breaks the strings and the instrument becomes useless. So it is with the body and stress; some stress is needed, but too much can break the body. Understanding stress and how to use it to your advantage, and also eliminating harmful stress can be a life and death matter. Overcoming the stress that’s slowly killing you is within your reach when you understand it and know how to deal with it. Knowledge can add years to your life, as well as increase quality. How then are we to understand and deal with stress? There are three crucial things you should know about stress: What is stress and what causes it; how stress affects the body, and how to manage stress.

What is stress and what causes it?    

Stress is defined as a “reaction to a perceived threat.”  Each individual’s stress triggers are unique, so stress has different meanings to different people. You know that stress is out of control when ordinary things, which are non-threatening, become the object of stress. It is usually the non-threatening things which cause the most stress.

One of the primary causes of stress comes from some of the people we are around throughout the day and sometimes the night. It is impossible to avoid everyone who is determined to make life as miserable for everyone else as they can. Actually, we are to blame if we allow them to stress us out. Some people are to be avoided if possible since they are a pain in the neck to be around. The obnoxious people with whom we must be around become the challenge. It is a matter of outsmarting them at their own game by taking them with a grain of salt and what they say meaningless rhetoric to be ignored.

Another cause of stress is due primarily to the rapid rate of communication available to everyone today. We are bombarded each day with stressful world events. Add to those events unhealthy lifestyles, drug dependence, lack of exercise, and a lack of centralized purpose in life, and you have a pack of reasons to be stressed out if you’re so minded to let them. Each of those four things listed above is preventable. For example, avoid the ten o’clock news if it stresses you. Drugs may relieve stress in the beginning, but in the long run they can add an enormous amount of stress. The point is that we bring a lot of stress upon ourselves that could be avoided.

How stress affects the body

The most common symptoms of stress include somatic (physical) symptoms such as sleep deprivation, muscle aches and tension, gastrointestinal problems, headache, and fatigue. Also, behavioral symptoms can accompany excess stress, which includes nervousness, anxiety, changes in eating habits, including overeating, loss of enthusiasm or energy, mood changes, irritability and depression. Stress can certainly also take a toll on relationships. Of more concern stress has also been linked to far more serious things like strokes, heart disease and even cancer. It is believed that stress is somehow related to all illness.

One of the greatest problems created by stress is that people under stress are more likely to engage in behaviors which are harmful, such as the abuse of alcohol and the use of drugs, and cigarette smoking. Along with insufficient exercise and nutritional choices, stress combined with unhealthy behaviors can become a “vicious cycle” which further impacts the damage stress does to the body.

Managing stress

Professional help may be needed in severe cases of stress, but there are some things that anyone can do to manage stress. Managing stress includes the three primary areas of our existence, the physical, mental and emotional.

Physical: Getting enough sleep, exercise and a proper diet can help enormously in managing stress. It has long since been established that the body needs at least 8 hours of sleep per night to be at its optimum performance. Young people are able to sleep a lot less than 8 hours and still function well and think they are ahead of the game, but the truth is it will catch up to them later in life, and they will pay dearly for the loss of sleep when they were young.

Exercise is one powerful way to beat stress. I was in a stressful job once, and I discovered that from 30 to 60 minutes at the gym during week days just about eliminated the stress. It is extremely difficult at the end of a 30 to 60 minute workout to be stressed if not nearly impossible.

Eating right can also assist in the fight against stress. Some foods, especially junk foods, can make you more vulnerable to stress as you body is depleted of needed nutrients. The body needs the nutrients found in fresh vegetables (even canned if fresh is not available) and fruit. There are five healthy foods that I try to include in my diet each week: eggs, tomatoes, apples, nuts, and salmon. These are all super foods that will build the body up and give it the strength it needs to conquer stress, and they are not beyond the average budget and are tasty.

Mental: One of the greatest things we can do to combat stress has to do with mental attitude. We have the ability to change our thought patterns and change our attitude. Our attitude can be right even when our circumstances and environment aren’t. Learning to control your mind and draw it away from stress causing negative thinking is one of the greatest keys to overcoming stress. For example, Last evening I started out to dinner. When I backed out of the drive, the right front tire made a funny noise, so I got out to investigate and discovered that I had a extremely low tire. Rather than to get stressed out from not getting to go out for dinner, I turned around and went back inside and fixed a simple dinner in a few minutes and dismissed the whole matter from my mind. The next morning I aired the tire up and drove to a local tire shop and had it repaired; end of the matter. Your attitude is vital in controlling stress.

I know that a flat tire and a change of plans are a small matter, but it is usually an accumulation of small issues that cause the greatest stress problems. Dealing with each issue when it comes up, using logic to determine if it is a real and valid concern, and if it is, searching for a workable solution and eliminating the problem is the answer. Of course, not all problems are quickly and easily fixed. I’ve dealt with enough over my lifetime to realize that, but I also know that many are, and those that aren’t, even though they may need more time, can be dealt with also. Here is another example of a much greater magnitude: My wife of 44 years died some time ago. I had a choice. I could give up and convince myself that my world had come to an end, or I could carry on with my life and make the best of it. I choose the latter and have had a meaningful life. It was a matter of attitude.

Emotional: Emotions are extremely needful, and being able to feel emotions is a decorous thing, but like any God given drive they can be harmful when misused. There are a lot of issues in life that can push emotions to the extreme: harsh words from another person; rejection; ridicule; being laughed at or made fun of; being lied to; cheated; betrayed; Talked about behind your back; passed over for a job promotion; stolen from; mistreated; misrepresented, to mention a few. There are many other things, but those are some common ones that can drive our emotions over the edge. Learning to deal with such events is how we manage stress.

Just how does one learn to deal with such events? First of all, you are not unique because you have experienced the things mentioned above because all those things are commonly experienced by most everyone sooner or later; what is crucial is how you cope with them. Sure it may take some time and practice to learn to cope with stressful issues, but that is the answer if you want to defeat stress in your life.

Here is one example of using logic to solve stressful issues. When someone laughs at you and makes fun of you, it is generally their problem, not yours even though you may choose to internalize it. Laugh with them and it will take the fun out of it for them. They apparently are struggling with their own self image. When I’m a bit intimidated or in a belittling situation, I sometimes ask myself, “Are you a man or a mouse?” And of course I must reply I’m a man. “Then why not act like it; I say to myself?” Most of the events that we face each day of our lives, are for the most part, not worth wasting one second of ourselves on, and certainly not worth stressing ourselves out. Undesirable, stress producing events will happen, but you can determine not to let them pull you down and stress you out. Here is a fantastic quote from me to you that you have my permission to use whenever: “I refuse to let anyone or anything spoil my life!”

Conclusion

To put it in a nutshell, the general answer to all of life’s issues is personal growth. The more we advance in the knowledge of living successfully and with purpose, the more the everyday stress causing issues become unimportant and menial. I’ve found in my life that the greatest problem is trying externally to solve issues that can only be solved internally. We live our whole life in the thoughts of our mind, and that is where we must take action, in how we think. If you are able to change the way you think, you will be able to center your efforts on the purpose of your life instead of on the negative issues that will only frustrate you.

I invite you to read my article on how to have a spiritual connection with God. My relationship with God has been the greatest help in my life for personal growth and for being able to separate the trivial from that which is essential. My strength for living a successful and prosperous life comes from God who is omnipotent, all powerful. If you desire, He can also be your strength to face every issue of life.

About the author: Jimmie Burroughs is an motivational speaker and author who has been involved in teaching Christian Personal Development for more than 30 years. There are hundreds of articles to help you on this website (Website Contents ) in your personal growth. If I can help you personally, please send your concerns via: Contact me.

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