Image Collage: Know Your Enemy : Your Face Here
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“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”
~ Mark 3:24
As human beings, we like to declare war on things. We declare war on drugs, war on crime, war against AIDS, and in our own minds, we’ve probably declared war on STRESS.
How ironic is that? There can be no doubt: there are few activities more stressful than going to war. The irony here is that there is no stress in the world. Stress is our own reaction to circumstances. Or to quote Dr. Wayne Dyer, “There is no stress in the world, only people thinking stressful thoughts.”
For you or I, even the most routine brain surgery is stressful. For a seasoned brain surgeon, who must have a perfectly steady hand, stress is not an option.
The reality is, we are often our own worst enemy when it comes to stress, especially chronic stress which, apparently, can rewire your brain and create mood disorders. In fact, there are at least five ways we subject ourselves to stress on an ongoing basis.
5 Ways we Load-Up on Stress:
It may seem hard to believe, but we do tend to cling to stress. Here are five ways we don’t make matters any easier for ourselves when it comes to stress:
- Avoiding exercise – We all know regular exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress. Unfortunately, when we view it as “extra effort,” it’s all too often one of the first activities we cut from our schedule when life seems too much. “I’m too tired to exercise” is an excuse which sounds so good to us after a hard day or tough week. If we really observed ourselves, however, we would find that exercise can invigorate and revitalize, leaving us energized and more able to take on the pressures of life.
- Neglecting PTSD Treatment – Many of us suffer from chronic stress related to unresolved trauma. There are a number of different approaches to dealing with PTSD, and even simple physical exercises which can help alleviate the symptoms. Our ability to remain calm and relaxed regardless of our circumstances is greatly boosted when we deal with the hidden baggage we carry which causes us a great deal of grief.
- Busy-ness and Over-Commitment – Some of us feel uncomfortable doing nothing. Like the busy mind that can’t quiet down in meditation, we constantly keep ourselves occupied with tasks, fill our schedules with commitments, and then repeat our “to-do list” incessantly to ourselves and others. We may also develop a kind of martyr-complex, taking on way too much responsibility, feeling unable to say “no” to family, friends, employers, etc. We must observe ourselves carefully to recognize that this self-imposed source of chronic stress is really a mask for very negative and counter-productive (if not self-destructive) psychological traits.
- Eating Junk – We are what we eat. If we eat garbage, we will feel like garbage. Period. Sure, we may feel the “sugar rush” in the short term—like any drug—but the “crash” which follows always leaves our heart-mind-body with “a terrible hangover.” The 2004 film, Super-Size Me vividly explored the stress eating junk food can have on us. Sadly, junk food is cheap, fast, convenient, addictive, accessible 24/7, and presses all of our “comfort food” hot buttons. In other words, it’s a drug, and we are all too easily susceptible to the downward spiral of feeling stressed, eat junk food, feel better for a while then feel even more stressed later > eat more junk food, etc.
- Attachments and Self-Sabotage – Possibly the 500 lb. gorilla of the bunch, self-sabotage is what compels us to do the opposite of what we know is best for us. Self-sabotage makes us say or do the opposite of what we really long for. We are not talking about competing voices in the head, here. Self-sabotage isn’t the inner dialogue debating which flavour of potato chip you should buy, it’s the almost automatic tendency to perpetuate habits which go directly against what we feel intuitively we must do.
Source: naturalnews.com: How chronic stress rewires your brain and creates mood disorders
PeapodLife knows that dealing with stress is all about healing our own thoughts, feelings and actions. Forget declaring war on stress, focusing all your energies on external circumstances, all the while ignoring the sinister sabotage teams lurking within yourself!
Imagine if you had—not an ally; let’s lose the war analogy once and for all—a friend, a supporter, a nurturing community of beings whose sole purpose is not just survive but thrive. Imagine if, as a part of that one entity, you were also raised to a level of optimal balance in your life.
Now you know how and why PeapodLife “declares peace on life.”
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