Series on Stress: Part 1

Do You Have Balance in Your Life?

Can you say at the end of the day that "it was good" or do you fall into bed thinking "Thank God, I made it through another one"? How did we arrive at this incredibly stressful and fast-paced life?

Stress can be described as anything that stimulates us and our level of alertness. Life without stress would be dull and boring, but life with too much stress can damage our health and well-being. Some of the internal symptoms of long-term stress are: worry or anxiety; inability to concentrate or make decisions; feeling overwhelmed or out of control; mood changes and feelings of frustration, depression, hostility, impatience and irritability; reduced sex drive; difficulty sleeping; drinking more alcohol and smoking more.

One of the very first things you have to face, when you want to master stress, is changing! You have to figure out what things are contributing to your problem and change them. These changes fall into four categories:

· Change your thinking
· Change your behaviour
· Change your lifestyle choices
· Change the situations you are in

By getting to the root causes of your stress, you can not only relieve current problems and symptoms but you can also prevent recurrences. An example might be frustration over arguments with your children. If you stand back and look at the situation objectively, you may find that it is not their behaviour that needs to be modified but your expectations.