Making Stress Work For You

Atheletes regularly place their muscles under stress.

“This is nice for the overworked!”

That’s how my thoughtful friend (see my last post) started a second straight e-mail to me last week. I took a read and thought it made a lot of sense so I thought of sharing it, too, with you here.

The e-mail came in a different language. This is how I interpret:

Stressed out? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed? Deadlines to beat?

It’s important to understand stress before we can effectively manage it. So, let’s talk about stress.

According to scientists, there are two kinds of stress.

Eustress and Distress

Eustress is positive stress. This is what the lovestruck feels when the object of his or her affection draws near.

Eustress is also the stress experienced by those who work out when going through their exercises.

Athletes regularly place their muscles under stress. Afterwards, they rest to repair their muscles. If they do not rest, injury results.

When injury happens, that’s distress.

Distress is the negative side of stress. You get headaches, stomach aches, could not sleep, could not eat.

Distress is the kind of stress that leads to diseases (hypertension, etc.) and sometimes emotional breakdown.

What Can We Do So That Our Stress Does Not Turn Into Distress?

Famous author and inspirational speaker Dr. John Maxwell has the following suggestions:

Don’t be overly sensitive to criticism

Accept that we will never please everybody. There will always be those who will disagree with you no matter how noble your intentions and motives are.

So, when you receive criticisms, take it constructively when the criticism is sensible.

When you think the criticism is not objective, ignore it just so not to fall into distress.

Don’t take too much pride in your achievements

Sometimes our achievements hinder us from growing and learning because we tell ourselves, “Been there, done that. I am better than the average Joe, how dare they teach me.”

Life is so sad when that is our attitude.

Don’t harbor jealousy over the achievement of others

The envious person often falls into distress because there will always be others better than us. It is only natural that others will have achievements that we do not.

Instead of being jealous or envious, rejoice in the successes of others.

You might just find yourself partying a lot with achievers when you do.

Don’t focus on your weaknesses and inadequacies

The more you pick at a wound, the worse it gets.

The more you focus on your weaknesses and inadequacies the bigger the tendency of wallowing in self-pity.

While it is important to acknowledge your inadequacies, it is helpful to focus on your strengths and capabilities.

One effective way of fighting distress is by counting our blessings

Reflect on the good things which life brings.

When we have grateful hearts, we will always be reminded that we are too blessed to be stressed!

Someone wrote that “The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.

The one who kneels to the LORD can stand up to anything.”

God bless you.