Identifying the Symptoms & Managing Stress: Part II

• Identify the sources of stress in your life. If you are experiencing classic symptoms of stress, count on it---you’re in some sort of stressful situation whether you recognize it as such, or not. This means taking a long, hard and mercilessly honest look at your life and the stressors that may exist in it. You may find that a lot of your stress is of your own making by refusing to remove yourself from a source of stress. An example of this would be staying in a job that you absolutely hate and that makes you miserable. Life is too short! Get another job! It may also mean that you are your own worst enemy in the stress department. For example, if you are chronically prone to procrastinate and then stress yourself to the max getting caught up on something that needs doing, you are bringing this stress on yourself. Managing your time more wisely could eliminate this stress. It may be that you are in a stressful relationship with no real hope of ever reaching a state of harmony. In this case, as painful as it may be---move on! Track down your source or sources of stress and take action to do away with them!

• Avoid stress! Once you identify it, try to get well away from the source as mentioned above. Stress is sometimes a master of disguise and can take many forms, so it isn’t always easy to narrow down its causes. But, once you do---try to put as much distance between you and the source as possible. For instance, do you have a headache or feel uncommonly depressed after spending time with a certain relative or friend? If so, this relationship may be a source of stress to you. If you can’t end it, limit time spent with that person.

• Control your environment! Limiting or eliminating interaction with people who act as stressors is one way of doing this, but there are others. For instance, do you feel anxious or depressed after watching the evening news on TV? Don’t watch! This may sound drastic but you won’t miss any news if you have access to a computer and by reading the news online, you can selectively read only the parts you really want to know about and not read the ones that cause you stress.

• Adapt to the stressor! If you are in a situation that it isn’t feasible or even possible to extricate yourself from, learn to live with it. That is, learn to live with it without letting it stress you too much. An example of this would be a child who was living a lifestyle that was headed for trouble. You don’t want to cast the child out of your life, but you need to learn ways of dealing with the stress he or she is causing. You might try yoga, meditation, long walks when the stress accumulates or going to bed with a chocolate bar and a good book. The main thing is to learn to manage and adapt to your stress in areas you cannot control.