It seems like with each passing year, life gets increasingly stressful. We have work stress due to deadlines and quotas, family stress resulting from all sorts of drama and personal stress when we worry about if we can manage everything. Did you know that your stress could be making you sick?
Consider these statistics:
So for your health and wellness, make living a stress-free life a New Year’s resolution that you will actually keep by adopting these habits for less stress:
These days we have our kids in three baseball leagues, we RSVP “yes” to any and every Evite that finds its way into our Inbox and Pinterest has created unrealistic expectations for crafting the appearance of a perfect life. No wonder we’re tired, cranky and medicated! Choose what’s important over choosing everything. Your kid will get over playing for just one team, you’ll save money on all those birthday presents and if you buy grocery store cupcakes instead of making them, feel proud that you even remembered to bring cupcakes. Determine what your top priorities are and eliminate the rest.
As a middle-aged mom of two, I’ve noticed that EVERYONE is busy. Parents barely slow down the car as they drop of the kids at school, they throw their kid in the car after school so they won’t be late to dance practice and morning, noon and night they’re checking their smartphone. It seems that being busy means that you are important and have self-worth. Being laid back looks like you don’t have enough on your plate or that you’re pampered or lazy. We (and I mean me) have to stop caring what other people think. We are valuable because of who we are, not because of what we do. Being stressed doesn’t mean you’re in high demand… it means you’re going to end up tired, cranky and burned out.
There are many situations that cause stress. Sometimes we have so many things to do that we don’t think we can accomplish everything. Other times, we believe that this one big decision is going to impact the rest of our lives. (Should I buy this house? Should I change careers?) If you have too much on your plate, only look at the very next step; narrow down what you should be doing right now to make it better and just focus on that one task. If you have a big decision to make, talk to a wise friend who will be honest with you or a professional (like a financial advisor if you want to buy a new car or house) who can help you choose the best path. Focusing on each piece and not the big picture can make life manageable and minimize stress.
Sometimes we tend to focus on the wrong things, too. We stress over what to have for dinner when others can’t pay for food. We feel anxiety over a big project at work and forget to feel grateful over having a job to pay the bills. One remedy is to help those less fortunate. We start to realize how good we have it when we help others who have something real to be stressed about. Just taking a moment to feel grateful can be an amazing stress buster.
