Managing Stress-Part 2

Attitude Adjustment Affection

Hugh Prather said... "The people I want to live my life with are the people to whom I can give the greatest opportunity to do with their lives what they want.ting limits, exercise, spirituality, sell-expression, deep breaths, relaxation, prioritizing, finding solutions, and doing what we enjoy. They all seem to point to focus and control. Focus on what'simportant to us, and control what we can without sweating the rest.

Dr. Hans Selye is regarded the father of modern stress management. Stress, said Selye, "is not so much the event but theperception of the event by the person." Yes, distress is determined by how we react to stressors, but it's also deterrnined by the stressor itself and "how much life has tromped you down." Perfecionism or unrealistic notions of life can turn stress into distress. Decide what's important, control what you can and go from there. That sounds easier than it is but maybe focusing on the big pictre of serenity is easier than trying to rnemorize the steps to reach it.

So, practical solutions to stress address the physical, chemical and emotional assaults we inflict on ourselves. Weust endeavor to develop lifestyle approaches to stress beyond how we react to life's circumstances. These include a proper diet, reasonable exercise, sufficient rest and, most of all, a nervous systm that functions without interference so it can control and coordinate the functions of all the other systems of the body.

The Bottom Line:

Stress is a lifestyle not a simple even in our lives. Health, too, is a lifestyle and not a simple event. Make choices that create a healthy lifestyle and have a healthy life!