Stress is something that is a constant fight for all of us. It is part of life and we must all learn to overcome it and search for new ways to better ourselves. Stress comes in many ways, so we must learn to fight the war in many ways. Doesn't matter how successful or unsuccessful you may feel, knowing to fight stress will make everyday life better. 1. Forgive yourself for every mistake you’ve ever made. 2. Forgive others for their offenses against you. 3. Stop obsessing over things you can’t control. 4. Take breaks often to clear you mind. 5. Do one thing at a time. 6. Stop over analyzing and start doing. 7. Stop judging what others do or don’t do. 8. Learn to say no and really mean it. 9. Only add to your “to do” list after crossing 2 things off. 10. When you buy something new, get rid of something old. 11. Give yourself some sincere approval. 12. Stop being a perfectionist and move on. 13. Let go of trying to control everything. 14. Don’t get emotionally invested in every little thing. 15. Quit agonizing over decisions you’ve made. It’s a done deal. 16. Remember that almost everything is temporary. 17. Ask yourself: Will it matter in 3 years? If not, let it go. 18. Find reasons to laugh out loud several times a day. 19. Stop taking things personally, it’s not always about you! 20. Use Touchstone Triggering to enhance the positive. 21. Don’t compare yourself to others. Life is not a contest. 22. Smile at everyone! 23. Start every conversation with a positive thought. 24. Don’t worry about things that haven’t happened yet. 25. Quit reacting like everything is an emergency. 26. Exercise every single day! 27. Don’t trade sleep for work. 28. Eat for nourishment not for comfort. 29. Express gratitude for the small things you appreciate. 30. Choose walking over driving whenever possible. 31. Do things that connect you with the earth. 32. Put up a bird feeder and become a bird watcher. 33. Don’t watch the news, especially when you are eating. 34. Listen to music that calms your soul and carries you away. 35. Get an answering machine or service. 36. Alarm clocks are rude, learn to wake up naturally. 37. Go to the beach or river and soak up the negative ions. 38. Do something nice just for you every single day. 39. Do something nice for someone else every single day. 40. Tell the people you love how you feel daily. 41. Count your blessings every morning and every night. 42. Eliminate unnecessary commitments. 43. Don’t allow others to make you feel pressured. 44. Stop creating unnecessary drama in your life. 45. Take 10 slow, deep breaths every hour on the hour. 46. Help others whenever it is within your power to do so. 47. Consciously relax every muscle in your body at bed time. 48. Turn off the “problem solver” 2 hours before bed time. 49. As soon as you wake up, do a gratitude review. 50. Play with your children or pets every day. 51. Laugh at yourself. 52. Be early for everything so you don’t feel rushed. 53. Make peace of mind a high priority in your life. 54. Find ways to express your creativity regularly. 55. Do an hourly brain dump for 30 seconds. Let it all go. 56. Hang out with happy, light hearted people. 57. Never complain. If something bothers you take action. 58. Don’t use words like stressed out, worried, or pressured. 59. Never rush through a meal. Savor every bite. 60. Maintain you energy levels and you will stress less. 61. Reduce spending and work toward being debt free. 62. Lighten your material load. More stuff = more stress! 63. Practice unplugging from the electronic world. 64. Read for pleasure and relaxation. 65. Exchange massages with someone. 66. Inhale calm, exhale tension. 67. Identify and eliminate energy drains. 68. Don’t flog your adrenals with more coffee, get some rest. 69. Actively interact with positive people as much as you can. 70. If it’s not your problem get out of the way (like tailgaters). 71. Get a hobby that completely captures your focus. 72. Never respond to or repeat gossip, it will backfire. 73. Only project positive thoughts into your future. 74. Be realistic with the demands you put on yourself. 75. Take care of your health, 90% of illness is stress related. 76. Don’t over focus on potential (imaginary) problems. 77. Maintain an optimistic perspective. 78. Don’t sweat the small stuff. 79. Be reasonable about scheduling your time. 80. Accept that everything takes longer than you think. 81. Use applied focus sessions to create more free time. 82. Stop trying to do everything yourself. Get some help. 83. Never argue with ignorance it will only frustrate you. 84. Adopt a stress free attitude because it’s all perception. 85. Remember that negative life lessons have great value. 86. Counter stress with positive words and actions. 87. When you’re feeling down take time to help other people. 88. Get rid of anything or anyone that makes you miserable. 89. Control over expectation to avoid disappointment. 90. Remember; first come the fear then the blessing. 91. Don’t stress out trying to get everyone to agree with you. 92. Stay away from the negative what if syndrome. 93. Seize every opportunity to be encouraging to others. 94. Live in the present instead of longing for the past. 95. View challenges as opportunities to minimize stress. 96. Unchain Yourself from conventional thinking myths 97. Multitasking creates stress and lowers productivity, don’t do it. 98. Believe that if it doesn’t kill you it will make you stronger. 99. Harness the anti-stress Power of Your Emotional Vocabulary. 100. Life isn’t always fair but it is still a gift, practice gratitude. Best of luck to all. :mickey:
Hmm some of that seems potentially useful, but a lot seems rather like over-used advice that isn't too helpful. For instance I would be in denial of what is going on with me if I somehow made myself belive 'what hasn't killed me made me stronger.' PTSD is not a sign of getting 'stronger.' And how does one maintain a postive perspective when they're miserable? But I won't deconstruct the whole list since there is some good stuff in there.
Broony - I like it. I'm like a broken record when telling peole how to improve their state of mind. I am totally mindful of all on your list and truly seriously hope a lot of forum members read, and more importantly, take note. All the small things can add up to big changes in a person's mental outlook which then affects physical wellbeing. Thanks for the post!
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I LOVE this thread. =) I felt a sense of great peace and calm just reading this. Turned on some mellow music and concentrated on my breathing and remembered my nightly gratitude (which tonite included all the progress I've made in recent year or so in doing so many of these things and how much they really do help). Again, awesome thread..thanks
PTSD is not a sign of getting stronger and learning how to effectively manage PTSD can make you much stronger... just knowing that you were able to deal with it can give you a great sense of quiet strength. And as for how to maintain a pos. outlook when miserable? Ironically enough some of the possible answers may be IN that list. Don't complain, if you don't like something, take action. Don't like being miserable? Figure out why you are miserable and take steps to change it. For some ppl the answer could include psychology (therapy, meds, etc.)- or the answer could be in...well, doing the things on this list =) .... getting enough sleep, exercising every day, eating right, practicing gratitude daily and not beating yourself up over things or stressing the small stuff. When you take care of the mental clutter, give yourself a break, keep a positive outlook that is grateful for the good in life...combined with taking care of your body, you WILL feel better. (and no, that doesn't happen overnight- but that's back to the "makes you stronger" part- because no one is meant to be happy all the time. you can learn A LOT thru the times when you just aren't happy)
Yep. The mental and physical well being are both tied in together. Take care of your body and your mind will follow. Take care of your mind and your body will follow. I heard recently from a counselor who was doing a seminar on how our thoughts, actions and physical body all effect each other. And yes, it's a circle where it's all tied together but what he was saying is that the only thing you can always control is your actions. So, when you start DOING certain things (anything really- eating healthy is an action, etc.) the other (emotions, thoughts, physical health, etc) will follow..
Well I suppose right now I can't effectively manage it and don't know that I ever will be able to...so to me it just doesn't quite make sense. I mean I would be more functional and stable as a person without that horrid disorder. Also it would be cool if there was always action one could take, sometimes there isn't or there is but your incapable of taking the action. Perhaps in that case maybe taking action in general might help like someone can't change something but maybe they could clean or do something just to get their mind of it for a while. If you're unhappy and in pain you're probably going to express that at least a little even if you are taking action to try and solve some of the issues or at least manage them better. Its not bad advice, I am mostly just not in a good place mentally...I mean the list itself stressed me out when I read it if that tells you anything. Perhaps the key is to reach a state in which you can do more of what it suggests...rather than see it as 'great more crap to stress about'. You are certainly right about none of it happening overnight, that is for sure.
Well, yeah, I know... and it's all much easier said than done and I know it can be kinda annoying to read certain things when you're still stuck in that bad place now. You can't just HOP out of it easily... so it's a lot easier to describe the process than to do the process. Another part of the ACTION step(s) is letting go and letting it be. Sometimes you CAN'T take any action or you take action but it's not always enough or you can only do so much..and then it's just as important, if not more so, then to let it go.. know you did what you could do and not focus on things. Setting aside a place and a time to come up with a strategy and then letting it go can help a lot. (and oh yes, i know what you mean about a list like that can be..just another thing to be stressed about-lol. and you were exactly right, just look at it like, i can TRY to do as many of these things as often as I can. you can't really always do it all and shouldn't stress over something like that.)
You don't have to believe in god. But this message, is really powerful. Give it a try with a focused mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7KHuwBJSVo"]Steve Harvey Jun 10, 2011 on TBN Motivational Talk on Stress - YouTube
