Hey there! How are you this BeaUtiFul Friday? I hope you are enjoying your day!
I got a couple questions for you. What is stress? What does the word 'stress' mean to you? Does it mean that you are going through something difficult? Does it mean you are going through something you are unable to handle? Is stress your situation? Is it your job? Your boss? Your spouse? Your kids?
What does stress mean to you?
The reason I ask these questions is because many people have the illusion that stress is a person or a situation and if they aren't experiencing something they believe they are not stressed.
Often times when I ask a person if they are stressed out, they say yes, and blame it on a person or a situation, or they tell me they have no stress at all.
Recently, I was working with this medic who was having anxiety attacks. I asked her what she was stressing over and she said she has no stress.
YOO HOO! HAVING ANXEITY ATTACKS IS STRESS!!!
After exploring a little more, we discovered she had tons of stress.
She was sleeping very little, she was eating unhealthy, processed, fast foods on a regular basis and she was suffering from very low self esteem.
These are all very stressful habits because stress is strain. Stress is not a person or circumstances we are going through, it is caused by the strain we put on ourselves emotionally, mentally, and physically.
This medic had stress because she was putting strain on herself physically through lack of sleep and unhealthy eating habits and she was putting emotional and mental strain on herself through all of the unhealthy thoughts she was creating through her low self-esteem.
Lack of sleep and unhealthy eating habits weigh on you because it takes energy to sustain yourself through out your day. Your body needs rest and nourishment to maintain it's healthy immune system. When we do not take care of our bodies we cause physical stress.
Emotional strain comes from our mental process. If we think that we aren't good enough we start to worry about that and we begin to feel anxiety or depression. Worry is mental strain (or stress), and anxiety and depression are emotional strain (or stress).
When we have emotional, mental, or physical stress we are unhappy. Learn to destress yourself by eliminating your strain so that you may experience happiness, energy, and vitality which truly is HAPPINESS!!!
One of the best ways to discover your stress is to look at how well you are taking care of yourself emotionally, mentally, or physically. Discover one thing that you can change in any of these areas, make it a goal to change it, and watch yourself make a shift in destressing yourself.
That's all I got.
Have a great weekend!
Until next post, don't forget to have fun and be playful.
Elizabeth
