Stress Management

In the current world, most people may encounter emotional challenges that hinder them from enjoying life, functioning effectively, and thinking clearly. Being stressed or the severe stage of stress, which is depression, one may feel to lose control of their situation. This lack of control leads to indulgence in other perceived stress relievers such as drugs and different types of addictive (Brewer, 2017). However, in recommended self-awareness processes, addressing stress starts with first understanding the stressors in one’s life.

My Main Stressor

The primary stressor in my life currently is being at a point of numerous uncertainties. I have a family that ensures that all my bills are taken care of and that all my needs are catered for. However, this can only continue for so long. Soon, I will be required to cater to my everything, including taking charge of my future, my family, and other challenges that I may encounter in the process. Education, being a goal of mine, has its stress too, which contributes to my overall anxiety behavior. In the process, I am unable to set goals and follow them through due to anxiety.

The Negative effects of stress in my life

Although I try to subvert my stress not to affect my daily life, different aspects of my life have been affected. For instance, as a person who values happiness and freedom of the mind, being anxious is making me unhappy and unable to control myself around happy people. This is in the case where most of my friends are enjoying their lives while young without necessarily caring for the future. In that regard, sometimes, I feel not to fit in these interactions, which make me feel lonely and left out sometimes.

Another impact of stress in my life is the inability to relate well with the family. Although I love my family, I am usually unable to talk to them about my inner feelings. Often, I find it hard to open up to people. This affects my purpose for love and kindness for people, which acts as a barrier to interacting with people on a personal level.

Stress reduction techniques

 After realizing that these adverse effects have promoted an unhappy lifestyle, I am willing to change and adopt behaviors that will alleviate the situation. Some of the techniques that I will use include:

Taking control of my environment. Considering that I now understand my stressors, taking control of my environment is an effective process to know how to deal with the problem. In that case, I will do the things that I feel comfortable doing.

Get moving. I believe that physical activity would help in reducing stress. I will try cycling, walking, and jogging every day, and find a partner to exercise with.

Connect with others. I expect to start connecting with people every day when I am outside. This will create memories of fun and relaxation to the mind. Perhaps I will start enjoying life again and stop being so serious about it.

Barriers to the reduction of stress

In the above techniques, there are barriers involved, such as the development of motivation, lack of time, and the occurrence of unexpected life events.

One of the effective ways to ensure these barriers do not disrupt this process is to be committed to the course. For instance, I will plan a time table to follow every day where physical activity will be included. Also, I will set time for friends and family and ensuring that I utilize it effectively. The motivation for this is my will to become a better person and to avoid stress coming between me and my goals. In the case of unexpected events happen, these behaviors will still afford me a happy life.

References Brewer, J. (2017). The craving mind: from cigarettes to smartphones to love? Why we get hooked and how we can break bad habits.