Your spouse is sick. Your job is not going well. You have an unexpected expense at home. Most folks think about the resulting stress as a bad thing, but, you can learn to consider it differently. According to Lisa Dampur, PhD, we can use this tension as a warning of potential danger. So, if we can learn to welcome the stress instead of trying to avoid it, our tension can help us to feel better. Let's learn to use our anxiety to help us feel relieved.
For example, ask yourself what is making you nervous. Perhaps you have heard that there are about to be layoffs at your job. You are fearful that you may be one of them. You now can take control by getting your resume together or asking you boss about the truth of the rumors. Now, you are not in stress. You are proactive and in charge.
Do not try to avoid the stress. Take action to improve your life situation. With that unexpected home repair expense, stop trying to avoid it. Face it head on so that you can explore your options for solutions. Avoiding your tension will most likely increase it. Not thinking about it may feel better in the short term, but, long term, you cannot really feel better because you will have a problem hanging over your head that will feel even more threatening than running away from it. Your fear will continue without giving yourself the opportunity to decrease it.
Use your stress to improve the ways you live your life. Tell yourself that your sweaty palms and nervousness are your body's ways of telling you that you can do a great job. Believe in the power of stress. This will help you to improve your performance. As you recognize that stress can be helpful, your mood will improve as will the quality of your work. When you can prove to yourself that you can overcome a difficult problem, you will feel yourself living up to that age old phrase that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." You can find small, but, comforting ways to cope like ordering out for diner or prioritizing the importance of multiple stressors. You can reduce the number of everyday irritations.
If you practice all of the above things and you still increase your misery and sickness, call me. There is a lot I can do to help.
"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it."