Living with stress.

Avoiding stress completely is impossible, especially now that I’ve arrived in my 30’s, I find my stresses tend to last longer and become more difficult to eliminate.

The responsibility of taking care of a younger one, the need to care for older ones, the requirement of continuous study to stay in the game affected by the specialisation of profession, my desire for a quality life style… all of these are solid causes for stress and are external factors which I cannot eliminate. Rather than be overwhelmed by this stress, I have learnt to live with it.

For me to live with stress successfully, I have a positive attitude, make sure I get enough sleep, and a place I can go to where I can temporarily hide.

Attitude rethink

Treating stress as an enemy is likely to bring more tension and potentially add even more stress. I believe in positive attitudes, that they encourage our bodies to react better to difficult situations with more focus and courage, as said by Nicole Jardim. She also said,

“Stress and meaning are inextricably linked. You don’t stress out about things you don’t care about and you can’t create a meaningful life without experiencing some stress.”

Nicole Jardim

The journey that we’re on, if we can live with stress and handle it, could lead us to a meaningful life. So when I experience the stress and frustration of learning new technologies, I rethink it as an opportunity to improve my productivity and a step closer to a possible career success. When I am doing housework for my parents during the holidays, I rethink it as an opportunity for sharing and learning from my parents.

There are people who say that modern life has been harsh on women, as most women have to perform a traditional role while they work full time. Some women under those circumstances may feel an unfairness and be further stressed out. I see it as freedom and opportunities; it enables me to pursue my career while raising my family and I feel thankful to be a female, that I was naturally gifted to being a mother able to care for my baby. With this attitude, I feel happier and tend to be more pro-active as I am doing what I want rather than what the modern life forces me into.

Get enough sleep

“Working tired is like working drunk.” said by Fiona Smith. According to the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, when you only manage to have five hours of sleep, your state of mind is similar to someone with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 percent.

Sometimes you will just need to turn off and have a good sleep to reboot. Having enough sleep makes me feel energetic, which increases my confidence in tackling difficult issues and some stress can disappear automatically. Efficiency is also increased as I tend to be calmer, more focused and move almost seamlessly and effortlessly from one task to another, which resolves some off the stress from time limitations.

An interest that helps you get a break

Allow yourself some personal time where you can jump into something you really enjoy. Personally I like reading stories – any kind, it helps me to escape from my world to a different one, where I can temporarily hide from reality. I normally find myself with more courage and determination after the spoil.

A happier life is not a stress free life, no one has the ability to 100% control external factors, but we do have the ability to choose our attitude, get ourselves enough sleep and spoil ourselves a little by escaping from the stresses.  

Resource: https://nicolejardim.com/why-modern-women-need-to-rethink-stress/