Stress, Stress and More STRESS!
Lets see, we have rising fuel prices which are sending out shockwaves throughout the rest of the global economy.
There have been floods of biblical proportions recently in the Midwest and record foreclosures brought about by the predatory behavior of the lending industry.
And talented yet troubled British R&B singer Amy Winehouse has somehow managed to give herself emphysema at the ripe old age of 24. These are all forms of stress, right?
Well, actually no. To be precise the news stories listed above are actually stressors, not stress. What is the difference?
A stressor is a stimulus that has the potential to create a stress reaction in a person. However, two people can encounter the same form of adversity and have totally different responses to it. And therein lies a very important thing to remember when it comes to managing your stress levels, you do have some degree of choice in the matter.
How about we create a hypothetical example to explore this idea. Your next door neighbor Greg sees rising fuel prices as proof of a dark global conspiracy that will ruin our way of life and his in particular. As you might expect he seethes with anger at the very thought of this perceived injustice and he has not been sleeping well as of late. His stomach has been giving him considerable grief too. Further fueling his stress, he is a loyal listener of a talk radio station that encourages listeners like him to call in and vent their opinions on matters like this.
Your other neighbor Mary is not thrilled with paying more during her weekly trip to the gas station either. However, the way she looks at it, this situation may be a blessing in disguise since it will encourage more people to seek out more fuel efficient alternatives and to practice conservation. That and she figures we are all in it together and things will probably work out OK.
Greg and Mary are being charged the same price at the pump, yet Greg is paying a far higher price when you think about it. His mental and physical stress are creating discomfort in the short term and if left unchecked, some potentially serious health problems in the long term. All because of a difference in perception.
Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying that "we are only as happy as we make up our minds to be." Its not a matter of Mary being right and Greg being wrong since both viewpoints could be argued successfully.
However, it makes little sense to hold onto perceptions that create stress while doing nothing to correct the stressor.
