We’ve all heard the advice that stress is a natural part of life, but what is this natural part? What is stress, and why does it occur? A great many people, myself included, don’t know. But after reading this article, you’ll be better prepared to understand the nature of stress, what causes it, and how to manage it.
The big question is: what is stress? Well, stress is really a state of alertness or arousal. Like when you get nervous, you get excited; stressed out, you become agitated.
Stress is usually characterized by our inability to cope with both our environment and ourselves. Many people are stressed out because they feel pressured to succeed, which can often bring about a sense of pressure to meet targets. Some people become stressed out because of financial strain or problems at work.
In today’s world, where many people have very little time for themselves, the constant activity in our modern society means that we all feel under pressure to live up to the expectations of others. This pressure can cause us to think negatively about ourselves, which in turn causes stress to develop.
Stress is also caused by outside factors, such as environmental issues, illness, lack of sleep, injury, loss of a loved one, etc. Sometimes the causes of stress are hard to identify. It may be difficult to detect, but we can still try to find a way to cope. Some ways to cope with stress are to seek out therapy, read a good book, exercise, eat healthy, relax, learn to meditate, take up a hobby, get involved in a community service project, make friends with a spiritualist, go on a retreat, or do a lot of thinking about your feelings and how to deal with them.
So, what are the causes of stress? And how can we manage it?
Our environment plays a big role in the causes of stress because it can be difficult to remove all the stressors in our lives without altering our lives. For example, if we are constantly surrounded by stressors, then we might think that we are getting stressed out, but in fact, our lives are just going about as normal. Thus, while our life might seem stressful, we are still living a normal life.
Another cause of stress is our thoughts. If we think that we are under pressure, then that affects us and that stress is occurring. Therefore, we need to realize that stress is actually an emotion, not a physical condition.
Other causes of stress include issues that may not be readily apparent, such as others not respecting our opinions, the cost of living increasing our bills, or we are unsure of the direction in which we want to travel. When these things happen, it may not be obvious to others. However, the main cause of stress is the mind’s interpretation of the world around us.
So, if we recognize that we are under stress, we have to stop and see what the cause is. Next, we need to take some action to eliminate the stress.
In summary, stress is normal, but we should learn to manage it. Instead of ignoring stress, we need to get into the habit of trying to solve our problems. We can then let the stress pass.