Each day our life is filled with change. Some are dramatic: , a sudden
change in weather that creates dangerous driving conditions, a new
assignment at work, adjustments in an important relationship. Others are
more subtle: a meal that doesn't agree with you, a change in lighting as
the days get shorter, a favorite chair that doesn't support your back as
well as it used to.
These events, and more, are your "stressors". Your awareness of needing to
change to these is your "stress". How you respond (vs. react) to these
challenges affects the quality of your life.
The goal of stress management is not to remove you from the circumstances
that threaten your equilibrium. Instead it is to help you accept life's
challenges as adventures and to face what life has placed before you.
Instead of positioning yourself as a lion entering battle when you
encounter stress, make a mental paradigm shift. You dont have to be in a
twelve step recovery program to make use of one of their useful sayings:
"God, grant me the ability to accept the things I cannot change, the
courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."
