When someone we know asks us if we are stressed or comments that we looked stressed, we generally respond with, “Stressed? Me? Nah” or “Yeah, but I’m used to it.”
Do we ever really take time to figure out what we are stressed about or why we are stressed. How about thinking about ways to be LESS stressed!
Oh, I know there are so many reasons why we are stressed, and so many reasons we have for why we can’t be less stressed.
I beg to differ. Much of our stress is our perception of our life.
Much of our stress is our perception of our life.
Yes…I repeated myself on purpose! If we look at the diagram above, perceived stress is one of the four types of stress we can experience in our life. In fact, when asked about stress, this is the area we think of most often and rarely actively address to take action upon.
Perceived stress often comes from feelings of burnout, a lack of control, and relationships we are involved in. Notice the other factors that contribute to perceived stress are disruptions in our neurotransmitters and neurosteroids, which shows in high levels of anxiety and depression.
As always, our first step in creating a change on our life is to be AWARE of what we are feeling and what triggers those feelings.
The first action step you could take in your journey to be more aware and stress-less is to list out times when you are feeling stressed and what triggers that feeling.
To make this less stressful, partner with someone to confide in and support your efforts (and maybe even participate with you). I am always available!
