Stress...

Those who know me know that I have been under a great deal of stress for quite a long time now. Some of it is work related, a lot of it is personal. I'm not going to go into the nitty gritty details of what I'm stressed about because it isn't the point of this post. The point here is that I've been doing some research and discovered a few things I didn't know about stress and what it can do to you if not dealt with.

When I googled "Stress", I found that there is an American Institute of Stress and they have posted a list outlining the variety of effects stress has on our physical and emotional well-being. Some of these effects didn't surprise me (like back pain and heartburn), but others did (like depression and feelings of lonliness or worthlessness). Stress can not only make you more suceptable to illness, but also make it more difficult to recover from illness. In reading over the list I was shocked at how many symptoms listed applied to me almost verbatim.

So what to do about it?

There is a lot of information out there on how to manage, reduce, and/or eliminate stress, but I found three common themes that seemed pervasive across all of the articles I read:

1. Eat Healthy - Eating a healthy diet along with sufficient quantities of the right kinds of food can help reduce the effects of stress.


2. Exercise - You don't have to kill yourself in the gym... just go for a 10 - 20 minute walk every day. You'll reduce your stress and burn calories at the same time.


3. Schedule "you" time - We schedule our days around all of our obligations to our work, friends, and family but all too often we overlook the most important person in our lives... ourselves. It feels selfish, but it isn't. Taking care of yourself gives you a chance to recharge so you can ultimately be a better friend, father, mother, husband, wife... or whatever you happen to be to the other important people in your life. It is a lesson I know I need to learn, and I also know how hard it is is in practice.

So there you have it... all the information I found tied up in a neat little package. I am working on figuring out how to put into practice what I've learned, but thought I'd share anyway. I hope someone finds it helpful. It really isn't rocket science, but if you'd like more information try entering "Stress" or "Stress Management" in Google. You'll get all the same information I got, and if you still want more you can always go talk to a professional.