Lower Your Stress

Here is an accumulation of ideas to Lower Your Stress, gathered from my own life and offered by my clients, friends, students, and even through the emails. I hope you enjoy them; some of them might prove to be useful.

A Spirit has said, "Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it does not occur, you have worried in vain. If it does occur, you have worried twice."

1. Ponder, pray and/or meditate daily and be sure to have time alone to yourself every day of the year. No exceptions.

2. Pick a standard bed time and go to bed on time - whatever time of the 24 hour day you end your usual day. Pick one time and pretty much stick to it, except for special events and circumstances. Studies of restaurant workers that worked variable shits have found increased mental and physical health risks among them. I would close one night at 1:00 am and be required to come back at 6:00am the following morning, then 11am - 7pm the next day, 6:00 am the following morning, close the next night until 1:00 am and open the next morning at 6:00 am. Two weeks without a day off, then 2-3 days off and another 2 weeks of irregular schedules. This contributed to my first migraine.

3. Awaken and rise on time or early at the start of your day - whenever that may be - in order to begin the day unrushed. It is NOT true that people on a different inner clock and work the late shift are lazy not to get up at 6:00 am. This is said be folks that need a reason to criticize others in order to life themselves sup in the of any who are fooled by this nonsense.

4. Learn to say "No" LEGITIMATELY to projects that won't fit into your time schedule or that will compromise your mental or physical health. Don't try to get out of your responsibilities, but don't let yourself be overworked, either. I worked in an education facility that employed 12 people. Seven of them were direct-client contact personnel. My supervisor became angry with the others and to "teach them a lesson" piled all their work on me. Because the system was disorganized, I was able to streamline procedures, but I still worked to many hours. The final result is that the six other people, including my supervisor, were laid off. A byproduct is that I learned to say "No" in that system after I was left alone with all the clients.

5. Delegate tasks to others that can handle them well.

6. Simplify your life and Go Green.

7. Less is more, very often, but not always. One is often not enough, and two are often too many. Nonlinearly and abstractly, sometimes ONE is TWO TOO MANY!

8. Allow extra time to do things and to travel to destinations.

9. Schedule and pace yourself. Spread out larger changes and difficult projects over a fair amount of time; but do not foot-drag or string things out to "make work." That's not honest to yourself or others.

10. Function in the moment. As AA says, take one day at a time. But, do not fail to plan where planning is best used - career planning and such.

11. Do not worry over your concerns. Remember the Serenity Prayer - you cannot control everything and you do not deserve the power to do so. No one does.

12. Live within your budget. Money is not everything, but only a tool.

13. Have backups; a backup of your hard drive, an extra flash drive of important files, an extra car key, an extra house key, etc. There is nothing wrong with having an extra car, either, if you can.

14. KYMS (Keep Your Mouth Shut) - this means do not gossip.

15. Do something for fun - or for your Inner Child if you adopt that notion.

16. Carry something like a notebook for writing, or a favorite book of poems, a Bible, other scriptures, etc. with you to read if you must wait in a line.

17. Get enough rest during your day - take time alone. In the 1980s, certain factories in the USSR required employees to attend the mediation room 15 minutes before and after work and at lunchtime. It had permanently reclined chairs, aquarium tanks around the walls and dim lighting. Workers Compensation injuries and traffic accidents were markedly reduced by this!

18. Eat a nutritious meal plan that is right for your physical and mental health and activities.

19. Organize your living and work spaces.

20. Listen to a book on tape while driving.

21. Before you lose them, write down thoughts, dreams, and inspirations. On one South Pacific Island, at every breakfast table every morning, all are asked, "What did you dream last night?"

22. Every day, notice something beautiful

23. Handle small problems before they become big ones. Don't be a problem yourself, but don't be anyone's door mat.

24. Make friends with wholesome, like-minded people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite poems, scriptures, and quotations on hand.

26. Find something to dispel an aura of gloom. For Christians, this may be shouting," Jesus." For Muslims, "God is great!"-- He is greater than any problem, anyway. All this certainly startles some opponents, at any rate. Praise Him in all things, advises the Bible, and it dispels gloom and misery - Or, laugh in the face of the problem. -- That can work. Regardless, break a negative aura in your own way. Do not let it continue

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh again.

29. Apply yourself to your work seriously.

30. Forgive.

31. Be kind.

32. Control the excessive need to feel important and be important.

33. Talk less and listen; be aware.

34. Slow down when you need so to do.

35. You are not Fixer of the Universe.

36. Every night, give thanks for one thing that the travails of life have not taken away from you.

Laugh.

Laugh. Laugh. Laugh.

God has a sense of humor. So does the Universe. So did Einstein, John Paul II, and Phil Silvers. You can, too.

In the words of one of my favorite martial artists,

"He can do, she can do - Why not you?"