How We Create Our Own Stress

​Have you ever felt like you were really stressed out and struggling to cope?

We have all had that feeling that we are juggling so many balls it feels like our heads are going to explode.

Stress is an everyday part of life but it doesn't have to make you down.

Lets consider first how stress builds up. Where does it build up?  In your head.  Who makes it grow?  You do!

Learning to deal with stress effectively and not letting it get you down is so important in life today.

Our lives are busier than ever, longer working days and not being able to switch off play a major part in our stress.

Stress when you break it down is how YOU perceive the present situation.  If you perceive things to be tense or busy then your body will react to that, making you think about it more. 

You find yourself having conversations in your head about how the day played out and how you could have done it better.  You find yourself thinking about everything you have to do and how there is not enough time to get it done.

A little stress in our lives can be beneficial, it can make us do our best and keep us motivated with the task in hand but all too often people start to feel the stress hampering their lives and it starts to get them down.

The best way to deal with stress is to not allow it to grow arms and legs in your mind and turn into a monster that starts to deplete your energy and dampen your mood.

Keep stress in proportion, especially in your mind and shut it down when it starts to get you down.

I've put together 5 tip to help deal with everyday stress.

1.  Get some exercise, it doesn't have to be strenuous even just a walk in the park, be outside and enjoy the countryside.  When we exercise our body produces its own endorphins which make us feel better.

2.  Disconnect from the world for one evening.  Put your cell phone down and take a break from it....honestly it will do your body the world of good.  Take the evening and read a book or take a bath away from electronics.  You will feel the benefit.

2.  Allow yourself to think about each problem in your life for 5 minutes per problem then in your mind put it in a box in your mind and forget about it.  Dwelling on issues and stress only adds energy to them.  Accept what your can't change and change what you can

3.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  This means if something happened that annoyed you today and it was minor.  Let it go don't hang onto it dwelling on what you should have done.  Is it really going to matter one year from now?  If not let it go.

4.  Do something for your future.  Take some time and design you plan of what you really want to do with your life.  No matter how small one step towards you goals will raise your spirits up again and make you realize that things are not so bad.

5.  Do something kind for someone else.  When we help others it can put our own problems into prospective.  Take a friend out for coffee.  Do something for your community. Spend some quality time with your kids.

When we take some time away from the stress we realize that we were giving the stress so much more energy than we needed to.

Our lives do not need to be so stressful.  Its up to you to control it.  Are you going to turn the stress up or down today?  The choice is yours to make. :)