On a Scale of 1 to 10, where is your stress right now? Is is low and you’re finding this a free moment to read a few blogs? Are in the throws of making a decision about something? Where will you begin? Are you in a place trying to unwind?
Stress comes from different places for each of us. For some people they find stress comes from work, the people they interact with there, and the roles they are in at the job. It may be constant and unbearable for weeks on end. For other people, relationships with significant others seem to throw them into a tail spin. The pressures of trying to keep everyone happy become a source of conflict and tension. For many individuals, financial concerns loom overhead threatening every move they make. These financial worries hamper their social life, their living circumstances, and desires to try new things.
I frequently hear that when one thing falls apart everything else does too. Is this sort of thing making it difficult for you to deal with all the stress? A health scare, the loss of a pet, the laying off from a job or worries about a family member may all occur within a short span of time. One has many things to handle and conflicts arise.
Stressful situations are often resolved in pieces. One resolution seemingly affects the healing or moving on to another one. It is always good to talk to a person seasoned in resolving these issues. Talking to several doctors may provide insight into a health concern. Talking to a therapist may help one discern what direction to take. 
When one is in the middle of a problem, fuzzy thinking may occur. Someone else can see so clearly that the resolution is already present. It is so good to consult with those outside of the problem. Also knowing that the answer may take time helps. Once a doctor told me that my father would be healing from a stroke, but it would take a good two years. It sounded so awful, but then the doctor also knew several other pieces of my dad’s history. He was pretty accurate. It told me to just pace myself, as well, in terms of my own expectations for him.
When things go wrong, it is good to be realistic. We don’t always get the news we want, but knowing the truth may help. If you have ever planned to travel somewhere new, part of the joy is in anticipating the trip. What will you need to take along? Will the weather be hot the whole time? Is the trip long or short? How long will you be there? Who do you know has gone there? Is there a schedule of events planned.
Bypass stress by planning ahead whenever you can. It will help to alleviate the unknowns. Know that stress is around, but we don’t have to let it take over!
- Look for the mini moments of gratitude.
- Recognize the blessings in all the small advances are part of the eventual resolution.
- Focus on something else for a few minutes or hours.
- Get in some physical action; exercise or dance to some music. All things are temporary and things will improve.
- Look at the picture of this drain. It has a series of holes to let things through slowly; eventually the sink is emptied of bubbles and liquids. If anything else is left behind, one needs to clean it up. So too are the problems in life. Things will filter out.