What is stress?  Do you think that stress is something that happens to you?  Is stress inevitable?  These are the questions that when asked of yourself, may reveal your beliefs and views towards the emotion we call stress.

There is no doubt that life in the physical world, being lived in a physical body changes your perception.  When we live life in the non-physical world, we have the power to create in an instant.  However, when placed in a physical body, the attributes of the physical world are placed upon your “spirit” making your inner self more difficult to discover.

Think about your answers to the questions above.  It is helpful to have an understanding of your beliefs and attitudes toward stress.  After you figure out what those beliefs and attitudes are, you can continue reading below.

Stress is much like the concept of the “economy.”  The economy is a perception of the world shared by many.  That perception actually helps to shape that world.  For example, when everyone thinks that the “economy” is bad, they get fearful.  Fearful for their jobs, their possessions, their income stream, the price of goods, etc.  As a result, that shared fear causes all of the things that they fear!  In a sense, they create the environment themselves.

Stress, on the other hand, is very similar in concept.  When you feel the pressures of the world around you being placed upon your chest, you may find it difficult to breathe.  You may feel the “weight” of those pressures pulling you downward, preventing you from doing the things necessary to release those pressures.  When we let the pressures of our world immobilize us, “stress” is created.

When we feel the pressures of our “world” pushing on us, that is a good time to do the opposite.  That is a time, to “push back” and do the things that we need to do to help release those pressures.  Let’s take a simplistic example.  Suppose, you are feeling the pressures of your job pushing upon you.  You feel that there are not enough hours in the day to complete the work required.   For some, the answer is to work longer hours to help alleviate those pressures.  However, that approach can cause “pressures” elsewhere in your life – such as with your family.

Another approach may be to figure out a way to get the work done during the allowed time.  For others, they may need to evaluate if the so-called “work” is really being pushed on them as a requirement of their job, or if it is somewhat “self-imposed.”  Maybe there are others that can help with the work, but you feel that they won’t do a good enough job.  In that case, you will jump on the hamster wheel and run for the rest of your life – or until you let go.

When you feel the pressures of your environment pushing down upon you, it is a good time to evaluate the cause of those pressures.  Evaluate whether or not the pressures are “self-imposed” and can be released.  Evaluate whether or not the pressures are “fictitious” based on fear.  When we let fear produce stresses in our lives, we are living in an undetermined future.

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Stress in your life is self-imposed.  When you feel stress, ask yourself how to release it.  There is always an answer that begins with a decision to live a stress free life!

Written Wed, Dec 24, 2014 8:18 – 8:32 AM MST