Managing Stress

How do you manage the pressure or stress in your life? We all have stress. Stress is like conflict. It is inevitable. Your ability to manage stress well will very likely mean the difference between success and failure, happiness and despondency, satisfaction and disappointment. Here are some management strategies that you might find helpful.

Be willing to fail. Even if you are driven not to fail, there is a benefit in being willing to risk. I really hate to fail. However, I understand that if there is no risk, there is no reward. Some people are crushed by their failures. The truth is that we will all fail. The measure of your character is how you respond to adversity, to failure.. God will forgive you, and so will others if you will face your failures with integrity and learn from your mistakes.

Keep it Simple. You have control over your stress levels. Most of our stress is self-imposed (self-inflicted) or at least self exacerbated. Living a simple life is a joy. No one requires us to live the life of the soaps. Keep your desires in check. Love your family and do your work. If you have ever been tangled up in sinful behavior, and I am thinking maybe you have, you know that the simple life is a lot less stressful!

Listen to the truth. Lean on your family and friends. There will be critics, always. Some will have bad motives, wanting to discourage or demote you. Most of the time, your critics are feeling a loss by what you say or do. If you can understand what might be at stake for them, you can listen with less anxiety. Others are people that want to promote, instead of demote. You need their truth telling! Find those people and lean on them. Speak frankly to them and let them speak frankly to you. There needs to be a place for unmasked honesty.

Historical Perspective. It is important to have a good sense of where you stand in the big picture. Sometimes I just have to look into the sky on a starry night. I am small. History is large. And God is above it all. In the larger scheme, my success or failure on a particular task will not change the course of everything. But in a few cases, the impact of what we do, does count. Don't forget that either. Your words and deeds matter.

Stay on task. Pressure is best dealt with head on. There are so many distractions and time consumers that come our way throughout the day. You can fill your whole day with those things. God gives us each day as a gift to use. When the day is over, we will never reclaim the time. Spend it as if it were precious currency. It is.

Pray and Sing. In the Bible, Peter writes, Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (I Peter 5:7). You will have to reserve time for this. Take time to talk with God. Let him bear your burdens. Most of all, let him be your significance. That will take most of the pressure right off your shoulders. You are important because he made you that way. And sing. God said that in singing we would be filled with His Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-20). The whole cosmos should sing, and perhaps it does (Rev 5:13)!

Remember His Presence. Consider the ravens. Consider the lilies. Consider the angels. Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14).

Trudge. When the tediousness comes and the pressure mounts, put your head down and press on. If it is number crunching, cutting the grass, or dealing with unpleasant business or unpleasant people, apply yourself and have the discipline to do what is right. Finish the race. We always feel a sense of relief in the aftermath of responsibility fulfilled.

Take care of your body. Eat right. Get some exercise. Go to bed at a reasonable hour. Your body is a tool that God has given you. Take care of the tool, so that you can accomplish all that God has set before you to do.

Use and enjoy. Pressure is also the gift of God. Pressure is the urge to do, the need to do. It is not a flame to be extinguished, but a fire in the soul to blaze the trail of life. Don't wilt under the heat, but rather direct it with purpose!