Ask away!

I'm sure you already heard the old saying, "If you don't ask, you don't get!"?

Maybe you think it's for a small kid doing that's why too many of us are afraid to ask for the things we need in order to succeed in life. Asking questions can open doors and bring to us the opportunities that without doubt are already out there. So why do we find it so hard?

The chances are that if you went to a good school you were always encouraged to ask questions. If you didn't quite understand what the teacher was telling you the only way to get it was to ask the meaning. But maybe as a child it's easy to say you don't understand and accept that you don't know something. Then it's easy to do something about it, ask for help and find the solution.

But sadly as we get older we stop asking! Maybe it's because we feel that as adults we should know what things mean and how to do them and so we don't want to appear foolish, particularly in front of our friends, family or work colleagues.Or perhaps we have just stopped caring enough to want to learn new things and gain new experiences. It's sad, because when you do start to ask you usually start to get!

Sure, we all ask for things every day. We have to when we go shopping, go to the cinema, or go to a restaurant. But we only ask for the simple things!

Take that last example. When you go to a restaurant and see something on the menu that is unfamiliar do you ask the waiter what it is? Congratulations if you do, but most people will simply pass it over and stick with what they know. That's an opportunity lost!

And how many times, when in conversation with a group of people has something been mentioned that you don't understand? Instead of saying so and asking for an explanation it's so easy to just stay quiet and stay ignorant. Another chance wasted!

It's true isn't it? You just don't want to appear foolish. Therefore you must ask whatever you want.

Do you like journaling?

Do you know journaling is a great way to deal with chronic stress? Let me tell you, it is one of the most powerful tools for self growth and can help you release negative emotions, clear confusion and sort out puzzling or traumatic events.

The best way to begin is to set a time to write down whatever thoughts and feelings pop into your head. Your journal can be used to reflect on the events currently affecting you that are particularly traumatic or overwhelming. It can also be used to process other things, such as dreams, childhood events, and long and short term goals.

Research has shown that writing not only about your feelings but also your thoughts about your feelings is more helpful than just venting your feelings. In other words, write from both an emotional and an intellectual angle.

Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. The purpose of what you’re doing is to relieve stress and release pent up emotions, not to cause yourself more stress by censoring your own writing. Keep what you’ve written private. If you think privacy is an issue, keep it under lock and key. If you’re journaling on a computer, create a password to protect your file.

A journal can be written on lined or plain paper, in a special bound book or a plain spiral notebook, in your diary book or you can use a computer. The important thing is to make a commitment to write for 10-20 minutes each day if you can. Schedule a time to write, whether it’s first thing in the morning or last thing before you go to bed, preferably a time when you’re free from interruptions. Experiment with writing at different times of day and in different locations.

Don’t think of journaling as a chore. If you miss several days of writing, simply pick up and write again when you can. Chances are the more you practice journaling, the more you will look forward to it. Your journal can be thought of as a friend who is always willing to listen. In a journal you have the freedom to express deep emotions that you may not be able to share with anyone. No one will be affected by what you write.

If you review what you’ve written over time, you’ll be able to see your own growth. If you’re processing a traumatic event, you’ll be amazed to see how far you’ve come and how much you’ve healed.

Journaling is a lot less expensive than most other methods of stress relief. It’s a great tool for self-knowledge and emotional healing. Like other healthy habits, you will improve with practice, and the benefits you attain from journaling will build the more you work on this life-changing habit.

Just laugh!

Just laugh when you stress but how? To minimize your stress, it’s the best medicine. Stress is almost always relieved when someone says something funny. Laughter helps buffer everything from fear to stress to serious illness.

Norman Cousins claimed that laughter saved his life. He was diagnosed with having ankylosing spondylitis and had a one in 500 chance of survival. His two part therapy program included huge amounts of ascorbic acid and laughter. He found that his pain would go away while he watched Marx brothers’ movies. He recovered completely.

Laughter works by producing endorphins that relieve pain and also affect the emotional state of a person. Therefore laughter can reduce stress. There is no specific single one stress reliever, but a huge range of practices that complement each other, and which can be used together. Exercise, relaxation, nutrition, laughter, time management, meditation, sleep, massage are just some of the effective ways a person can relieve stress.