Stress has been getting the best of me lately. In reality, I'm doing pretty good compared to how I used to handle stress. The former me was a big ball of anxiety in the pit of my stomach, getting fed with all my energy, some of my confidence, and a lot of unhealthy foods. I would come home completely sucked of all energy, feeling like I had run a marathon, and just wanting to flop into bed. I'd scavenge for sweets, crave sleep, and not even give exercise a passing thought.
NOW, though, I feel like I do much better. I am eating better consistently and that doesn't change drastically with stress. I still seek out sweets, but my sweet tooth has shrunk drastically from what it used to be. I think I'm avoiding the big anxiety ball, and it's certainly not taking any of my confidence away! I'm feeling calmer than I have in a long time and that's a great feeling. I exercise a lot more than before and am still trying to ease into more.
I work in a very fast-paced, high stress job, so managing stress is imperative. Nobody is impervious to stress, and you can see it in any and all of my colleagues at some point in time. It's just a part of our world and it's not going to go away, so you have to manage the best you can. As a result, I continually try to handle stress better. It has been more stressful than normal for pretty much all of 2010 so far, so I'm having to fight a little harder than usual to combat it. Holding strong, though.
One of the most remarkable things about our bodies is that they are gifted at healing, adapting, and dispersing the good and bad we do to them. And usually our bodies are much more forgiving than we as people tend to be! You learn a few ways to adapt and manage stress better, and the whole stress reaction system in your body is suddenly kinder and gentler on you.
I just heard an interesting way to look at the body today. There are many doors that can be opened into a medical or physical problem with the body. Once one door is opened, the healing process can begin and the rest unravels faster. Big or small, these problems can all be helped by taking the first step.
What are your biggest stress responses? What are your biggest stress fixers? Do you believe all aspects of our bodies are interconnected?
