Managing Your Stress

Here are some tips that you can do on your own. The tips are designed to be easy and practical. But as you have heard before, you should consult with your doctor or mental health professional.

? Understand the difference between good worry and negative worry.

1. Remembering items, setting priorities and planning can all be part of good worry. You can tell the difference between good worry and negative worry. Negative worry is toxic and is repetitive, unproductive, paralyzing, frightening, and in general life-defeating.
2. Look at your problems, develop a simple to do list to address the issues. Do you say ? "I fix what I can, then I put the rest out of my mind."

? Watch your physical well being

1. Are you getting enough sleep? Some symptoms of not enough of sleep are irritability, distraction and needless worrying. Generally adults need 8 to 9 hours of sleep.
2. How is your daily diet? Are you eating a healthy meal plan? Review your diet with a nutritional counselor to be sure you are eating healthy and that you are not using as a comfort agent to help you overcome worry. .
3. Don't watch too much TV or read too many newspapers and magazines. Media love bad news. Next to sex, bad news sells best.
4. Exercise at least three times a week. Exercise prevents toxic worry.

? Have faith

1. Have faith. Have you heard the saying, Let Go and Let God? Not bad advice. Give over to the Lord the power that is the Lord’s. Worry is part of our impossible need to control.
2. Pray or meditate. Pray every day, even several times a day. You can pray or meditate anywhere. You will be amazed how prayer and meditation can calm your mind.

? Develop connections.

1. What are connections? Connections are feelings of being part of something that is greater that just you. Your family, social organizations, religious settings, your neighborhood can all provide this type of connections.
2. Get your daily hug. Your spouse, your kids, your parents, your dog and if possible your cat .. are all sources of hugs.

? Ask for advice.

1. Not enough info? You may be worrying about a problem because you don’t know how to solve the problem. Good time to ask, look for help.
2. You aren’t the first. Find someone who will listen and talk with them about your problems. Sharing your worries generally makes them smaller and may even make them disappear. .
3. Find good counselor. A counselor can help in finding solutions or help you rethink your worries. A counselor can help you in developing good worry habits .. that is how to plan to solve your worries.

? Thinking Right, changing your thought patterns.

1. LOL. Yes laugh out loud, as much as you can. Negative worrying can create a negative view of the world, laughter can help change your view back to a positive view.
2. Make a list of the good things. Be an accountant and do a daily inventory of the daily good things. Keep a list of both big things and little things: it was sunny as you got in your car, your lunch tasted good, you car worked today, the air conditioner worked. Make a point to list at least 10 things every day.
3. Listen to uplifting music. Music can reduce tension and anxiety. Make sure you are listening to relaxing uplifting music. An example, listening to the music of a gentle rainfall can be calming, while the thunders and clap of lightening are not. Find relaxing music, you can listen to “easy listening” stations.
4. What movies are you watching? Keep a supply of movies/dvds on hand that make you laugh, that make you feel good. Momma Mia is a good example of a fun to watch movie and yes it has music too. If you like oldies, try some of the old musicals. They can be fun.

? And most of all …. don't sweat the small stuff .. and it all small stuff.

Good counsel from the Serenity Prayer.
“God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference...”.

References
Hallowell, E. (1999) Connect, Twelve Vital Ties. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster

Hallowell, E. (1998) Worry: Hope and Help for a Common Condition. New York, NY: Ballantine Books

Carson, R. (1997) Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff, And it is all Small Stuff. NewYork: NY, Hyperion