The Dangers of Stress and How to Reduce it

Stress unfortunately has become a relatively normal staple in our modern-day lives. We live in such a busy society that finding people who are bogged down by stress is no harder than spotting an elephant in a bare field. The unfortunate thing though is that stress not only puts a damper on your mood, it is also extremely harmful to your health and well being. When stress is left unchecked, it can potentially cause damage to almost every important part of your body. – Especially your immune system and heart. So what can we do to help cut back on all the stress we experience?

First we need to understand stress. Stress is completely natural – when you become stressed, your brain releases hormones into your blood that cause your body to work overtime in case there is a dangerous situation that it needs to respond to. Unfortunately, we are supposed to remove ourselves from the stressful situation relatively soon. The problem is that sometimes we find ourselves continuing to live in stress, and our bodies are constantly pushing harder as a result, and suffer as a consequence.

A good way to protect yourself is to make sure that you get the occasional break, but the key to avoiding the dangers of stress comes from your ability to mentally leave behind a stressful situation once you no longer have control of it. Most of us face small situations of stress everyday, whether it be a traffic jam, a crying baby, or having to put up with an irritating history professor. These situations are unavoidable, and the only way to protect yourself is to not let them get to you. You need to take mental control of the situation. Remind yourself that this is only a minor problem, and that it isn’t serious. Think of other similar situations that actually ended up as a funny story. The bottom line is that the first step to preventing stress damage is to remain calm and relatively unaffected by the small quirks in life that we just don’t have any control of.

Unfortunately, we also have to deal with much larger issues in our lives. Sometimes we are relying on a promotion at work to pay our bills, or find ourselves working overtime at our studies and not making the grades we should be. Obviously these things need to be dealt with, but we also have to be able to walk away from them. The trick is to work hard at avoiding these problems, but once you pass that point where you can no longer do any more, you must be able to set it aside. Maybe you miss out on sleep because you are studying even when you already know the information, or maybe you are pushing your food around your plate in anxious thought about that promotion. These little things are keeping you stressed, and they aren’t helping you a bit. You need to be able to recognize when it’s time to shut the problem off, and let the card fall where they may. Ask yourself if there is anything else you can do to solve your problem. If the answer is no, rest knowing that you gave it your all.

Lastly, one great way to get rid of stress in your life is to keep yourself occupied with things that you enjoy. It can be difficult to shove aside your problems if you’re bored, but if you’re having fun, it isn’t that difficult now, is it? Identify the little things that bring pleasure into your life. Maybe it’s fishing, or building model cars, or playing sports, and helping your kids with their schoolwork. Whatever it is, try to schedule in more of it. Don’t forget to keep it simple as well – you don’t want to stress yourself out trying to plan for a time that will help you release your stress!

Stress is a natural phenomenon, but prolonged stress isn’t. It’s also not necessary. There’s no denying that many people have a lot on their plate, but there is also no reason not to cut out your stress whenever you can and enjoy your life. If you do, not only will your life be longer and happier, but you’ll find that you are able to handle your responsibilities more efficiently, cutting the stress caused by them and making your daily life much easier, more enjoyable, and more fulfilling

Focus to be the best

Unfortunately the majority of people on our lavish little green planet are not happy with their 'lot' in life. They are living lives of quiet desperation, unsatisfied with their relationships, careers or finances.

What is the main reason for this dissatisfaction? The main reason I believe this is so is due to a lack of understanding about the nature of our universe which can be directly linked to our belief conditioning from childhood.

As a child we begin to replicate the conditioning of our parents. A person's beliefs and values are often passed from generation to generation until someone down the generations either has a life-changing experience or consciously reorganises or changes their belief system.

Your beliefs and values determine your focus and a key point I make in all my writings on personal development is the simple truth that "your focus determines your reality". Focus sets in motion the Law of Attraction. (See Wealth Beyond Reason for instructions on using the law of attraction.)

The internal dialogue and imaginings of your mind are guided by your focus and your focus is reflected in your thinking. Your thinking becomes automatic and therefore this becomes your automatic creation system.

If you are not currently living a life that is in correspondence with your desires it is due to your internal automatic creation system being out of alignment with your goals. Simply put this means: Your focus is on what you do not want instead of what you want!

Let's say you have bills piling up everywhere and no way of paying them. When you receive post through the mail what is your first thought? I bet it goes something like this, "oh no not more bills". Where is your focus directed?

Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Well a rich man has money and he knows it. He sees wealth all around him. The poor person sees lack and concentrates on it. Can you see the difference in focus?

Now there are there are two basic ways to redirect your focus. The first is to change your beliefs so that your focus becomes more automatic in the direction that you wish it to go. The second way is to consciously redirect your attention to situations, people or events that correspond to a new belief.

This, however, is often easier said than done. For example examine the beliefs of a racist who thinks that he is superior to another person due to his heritage, skin colour, or ethnic origins. Now any right thinking person knows that these beliefs have no foundation in reality (subjective or otherwise). So in order to change these beliefs, at a core level, the racist would need to have some contact with other racial groups that have equal or better results in areas of their lives than he does. If he believes he is more intelligent then he would need to see that there are highly intelligent people of all races. If he believes that he is more prone to being successful because of his genetics then he would need to see that there are people of all races who achieve success with ease. If he believes that he is more equipped to overcome obstacles than members of another race then he would need to know that people from all walks of life and different cultures have achieved against seemingly insurmountable odds at great hardship to themselves and so on!

The problem with this is FOCUS! In most cases the racist does not want to see these things. He focuses on the situations, people and events that correspond and reinforce his beliefs! In extreme circumstances such a person will not even be in the company, correspond with, or listen about members of the group he is racist against.

You and I do exactly the same thing everyday. If your life is similar today to yesterday, last week or last year it is primarily because your focus has remained the same. Your thoughts yesterday where the same as last week and if your thoughts and focus are the same today then you can expect tomorrow to bring the same results!

If your beliefs are challenged by what you see, hear or experience many times you simply disregard the information and continue 'blindly' believing what you chose to believe. We filter our reality so that is reinforces our beliefs. We need to break free from this self-imposed brain-washing and redirect our focus on the things that will reinforce a new belief until we actually come to belief it.

For example take a couple in a 'bad' relationship. They come home from work and just know that they are going to have an argument with their spouse. Sure enough they arrive home and argue about who is taking the dog for a walk, what to watch on TV or why they argue so much! Where is the focus in this relationship?

Let's say they decide to try an experiment in beliefs and focus. They look at what IS working in the relationship. They recall the reasons why they first became a couple and begin to reinforce the things they have in common. Their focus is beginning to shift. Although they will probably fall back into some old routines of arguing again if they keep their focus on their shared interests and the things in their relationship that are working what do you think the effect will be?

Try this little experiment yourself. Choose a person who annoys you in some way and that you can't avoid but would if the choice where yours. A work colleague is a good example. Can you think of one? OK, what are you focusing on about that person? I bet it is all the things they do that annoy you. Try to think of something they do that you admire of that you like. This can be sometimes difficult but remember that every person has good and bad qualities so try not to become too polarised about people thinking them either good or bad - they are just human beings.

Now for a few days try your best to focus on the things you like or admire about them and watch what happens.

After you have tried this little experiment try other small ones in other areas of your life that you wish to improve.