Everyone has dealt with stress at some point in their lives. Whether it is something as small as meeting a deadline at work, or tragically losing a loved one, stress can make a negative impact on a person’s health. According to the article “Coping with Stress”, there are several ways of managing this.
The article mentions “mindful meditation”, an ancient Buddhist practice method used to help people embrace their emotions by not judging themselves or trying to get rid of them. I find this rather difficult. In my experience, It is hard enough not to judge yourself, let alone trying to get rid of your negative emotions. Meditation requires some deep sole searching, calmness and extreme focus. I find it easier going to the gym and exercising. Creating some free time for myself to play sports, go jogging, or just reading a book are other ways in coping with my stress. Engaging in activities I love to do can take my mind off of some of the hard times we all go through in our lives.
Stress can cause health problems or make health problems worse. It can cause unhealthy physical symptoms if it becomes persistent, such as in response to life’s daily challenges and changes. Some people may constantly feel fatigued, unable to focus, or even out of control even if the cause is something minor. Learning how to cope with stress is not only beneficial to my health, but it also helps me manage my life to the point where I am not overworking myself.
The article “Coping with Stress” suggests that psychologists have identified three coping methods: Reappraising the situation, learning from the experience, and making social comparisons. In my personal experience, I have used the learning and social aspects. I feel it is important to learn from what you are going through. It builds my confidence, and helps me to understand what’s in front of me. For example, my 4 year old son has been receiving speech therapy for the past 2 years. Initially, it stressed me out, where I felt useless in helping him. Not being able to verbally communicate with him was disturbing, and frustrating. But I chose to learn from it by educating myself. I did a lot of online reading, and book reading. I have done many learning activities with him and I am amazed on how far he has come along. This helped relieve the stress I caused myself, just by being patient, understanding what was ahead of me, and how would I tackle it.
Making social comparisons has also helped me in coping with stress. By comparing myself to people who are less fortunate then me, It changed how I felt about things. Do I really have it so bad? Is it worth stressing myself out because my tire blew out and I simply had to change it? As opposed to someone’s tire blowing out and getting into a car accident, possibly ending up in the hospital? The answer is just simply “no”! Life is too short, and we should be all grateful for what we have.
Stress management is important in our everyday lives. Learning how to cope with my stress has made my life easier. Understanding the facts behind stress and how it can effect my health has pushed me to exercise more, have a healthy diet, and reflect on myself compared to others less fortunate. Doing things I enjoy is a natural way to fight off my stress. Simply put, when stress makes me feel bad, I do something that makes me feel good.