Picture this: It is 3:23 a.m. you are at home in bed, and are you suddenly awake……you are not sure what has awoken you, because the room is quiet. Nothing appears wrong in the near dark, but you are suddenly and completely awake. Whatever you were dreaming about is gone, replaced by a vague sense of alarm. Your body is aching to go back to sleep, but your mind has switched into full-blown stress mode.
Your thoughts are racing, as all you can think about are all the things you haven’t done. You try to force yourself back to sleep, because you know you’ll pay the price tomorrow. So much to do, so little time, and, now, so little sleep! How will you ever get it all done? As you lay awake, you watch the night slip away. Now you are not only thinking about the things you have got to do, you are also reliving the conflict with your co-worker, the tense conversation with your teenager, and the mistake you made yesterday or in your life.
All is quiet in your bedroom, but your mind is going ballistic. Every barely-concealed fear and anxiety has a feeding frenzy on all those should-haves, what-ifs, and must-dos that pop into your head. The pressure to do it all, find it all, and fix it all feels like a crushing weight. You feel pressure not only to get it all done, but to do it all well, because if you don’t, disaster awaits. And then what will you do? How will you cope? With all of this stress, how is anyone supposed to get a good night’s sleep?
If you feel stressed out, you are not alone. 75% of us live this way…..
Does that number surprise you? Are you surprised that three-fourths of the adults in some countries struggle with stress at some level?
But what are we stressing about? According to an Psychological Association report:
A majority of us are stressed out about money (64 percent), and many of us feel stressed about our jobs (60 percent). Almost half of us are stressed about the economy in general (49 percent).
We are also stressed about family responsibilities (47 percent). And we experience stress over personal health concerns (46 percent).
We’re stressed out and that negatively affects our health, which contributes to even more stress. This spiral is not headed in a good direction. What does stress do to us?
We struggle to get, and stay, asleep. Stress can cause us to eat unhealthy foods, continue poor habits and to drink too much alcohol – maybe even lash out in anger at family or co-workers. We are irritable, and we can be nervous and anxious. At times, we have a lack of interest or motivation. Finally, we have feelings of fatigue, depression, and sadness.
Does that sound like you? Angry yet apathetic; anxious yet depressed; keyed-up yet tired; overwhelmed and sad? Each of us has probably felt this way at times. But, what do you do if “at times” is becoming all the time? Consider an implementation plan for these six steps to reducing stress:
Live Simply – to simplify your life, you need to go through your agendas, priorities, and responsibilities, and determine which things are truly necessary.
Live Organized – knowing what your priorities are and the goals you want to work to achieve allows you to take control of your time.
Live Healthy – develop a plan to maintain a healthy nutrition plan and increase your activity level with consistent, daily exercise.
Live Present – understand your past and how it is affecting you in the present. Acknowledge the ghosts from your past and work to let them go.
Live Grace-Full – practice forgiveness and work to achieve peace within yourself.
Live Grateful – recognize the blessings you have, and gratitude will well up inside you with such force.
Instead of living a “stress-full” life, learn to live one in which you are “stress-less.”
Rick Parcell. Master Coach
