STRESS
How do you cope with the stress in your life?
I am sure that like me, you find that it is okay in the short-term and can even be beneficial in that you are 
able to applaud yourself afterwards for how that you coped with it all.
Put into perspective
You can also put things into perspective by constructive self-talk –
I can manage
I’ve done this before
I can cope
Everything will be fine
What’s the worst thing that can happen?
And so on
These will help to dispute your cognitive distortions , eg. ‘I’ve not finished my tasks indoors or at work so I must be a useless person. Most of us find that we’ve added to our stress by blowing things up out of proportion. I am sure you will know what I am referring to here!!
You may also find that when you have the feeling of wanting to deal with your stress, this determination can disappear when something else happens so you simply decide not to do anything about it at all! It can be much easier to fret away or tell all and sundry about the pressure you are under, can’t it? You can be the centre of attention and your drama queen can come out!
Coping
One way I find has enabled me to cope is to Stop – take a breather by putting music on and singing or dancing or going outside.
Another way is to simply say out loud ‘stop’, take a deep breath and relax.
You can choose a word to say over for 5 minutes twice a day e.g. ‘one’ and do that.
You can move your body by relaxing it from head to toe, close your eyes and ask for help.
You can write down what you see are all your stressors. You’ll then see the reality of how you can cope with them. You’ll get the idea of what you can to resolve them individually. And then see what is left and how you can manage them.
You could also brainstorm the internal as well as external stressors. This is also an important factor.
What is stress?
Quite simply, stress is a response by the body and mind to the pressure that can’t be managed. It is a psychological and physiological/behavioural reaction that you suffer when you see a lack of balance between the demands placed upon you, and your ability (as you see it)to meet these demands. This can bring on the flight/fear reaction.
Choice
Stress management is about Choice –knowing and seeing you have a choice. It’s prevention.
I wonder what you do in order to prevent being stressed.
