None of us can escape stress in life and it comes in many forms, emotional, financial, family problems with our children and ageing parents etc. Stress can be overwhelming and the overwhelm is increased when we place unrealistic expectations on ourselves by thinking we can deal with any stress whilst also continuing to manage the rest of our lives as we previously did.
Not only is this expectation unrealistic but in our struggle to meet it we inevitably flounder and instead of accepting that we can’t carry on as normal we stagger on battling against a weakened immune system and increasing stress; this leaves the door wide open for physiological symptoms of stress (digestive issues, frequent colds and infections, elevated blood pressure, weight gain or loss etc) and the psychological symptoms of poor concentration, memory and focus as well as insomnia, anxiety and depression. The result is that we find ourselves even less able to deal with the original external stress.
Our natural response to an external stress is to want to take some sort of control and to fix the issue but often there is no way to fix a situation and so the only control we can take is control of ourselves in the form of self-care. Often we confuse self-medication for self-care.
Self-medication comes in many forms, high sugar foods, alcohol, smoking, spending money and provides only short term comfort and relief. Positive self-care offers long term comfort but needs to be consistent and comes in the form of the basics such as regular exercise, relaxation or meditation to de-stress and promote good quality sleep, a low sugar diet to avoid spikes in blood sugar and unwanted weight gain. In the midst of a stressful situation or crisis it’s easy to overlook the importance of active and positive self-care, in fact it’s easy to overlook ourselves.
If you are currently feeling overwhelmed by a stressful situation give yourself permission right now, yes right now, to make time to look after yourself in positive ways – time to simply get back to basics.