Imagine a perfect morning, when a sunny day is beginning, and you feel fresh and energetic. A well-planned, busy day is ahead of you. You sit comfortably in your car, ready for the morning commute, but the car does not start due to a failure of push-button start. Quickly, you realize that your ideal morning is turning into a disaster. You start panicking, making important phone calls, and blaming new technology for including too many computerized features in modern vehicles. You ask yourself if we might be losing sight of the primary function of transportation. One way or another, you make it to work or to your appointment, but you feel rushed, stressed out, and disoriented. You no longer have control over your perfect day and things seem to keep falling apart. This type of morning is a pretty common example of the daily hassle that every adult goes through once in a while.
Stress
There is no such a thing as a stress-free life. Life is full of stressful situations, such as daily hassles, break ups, financial pressure, illness, and the death of a family member or friend. There are also life changing events and natural disasters. All of these are normal features of an adult life.
Stress is a combination of both a stressor and a stress response. On a daily basis, an individual is exposed to a stressor, which is an external source of change. A stressor can be a positive thing, like the excitement of an upcoming wedding or a job promotion, or even a deadline, which can inspire you to accomplish tasks on time. At the same time, a stressor can be negative in nature, such as car incidents, daily hassles, family drama, or any number of other catastrophic events.
Positive or negative stressors may cause a lot of concern for some people, but little worry for others. A stress response is an individual internal change, which occurs as a reaction to a stressor. Some people are able to handle stress better than others. It depends upon their mental and physical abilities.
“Fight-or-Flight” and “Rest and Digest” Reactions
Usually, too much stress can wear a person down. When an individual feels threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in the body that enables the individual to react with a quick motor response to get ready for a potential threatening event. The person goes through a fight-or-flight reaction, which is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. During this response, an individual’s heart rate rises, breathing quickens, blood pressure increases, gastrointestinal activity slows down, and the stimulation of sweat glands and dilation of pupils also begin. The primary purpose of these physiological changes is to stimulate the direct flow of oxygen and blood to the skeletal muscles and to prepare the body for attack, escape, or defense. The overreaction of the sympathetic system and prolonged exposure to stress-related hormones may weaken the immune system and predispose the body to serious health issues such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, ulcers, depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches, and even weight gain.
The body has the natural ability to balance things out and maintain homeostasis. The parasympathetic nervous system is the opposite of the sympathetic nervous system. It promotes relaxation, digestion, and normal growth functions. Both systems serve the same target organs, but with the activation of one system, another deactivates in a complementary and simultaneous response. The parasympathetic nervous system sends blood flow to the stomach and intestines for proper digestion of food and efficient absorption of nutrients. In other words, the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for getting the body into its “rest and digest” state.
Managing Stress
There are many different ways to deal with stress. Some people try to relax in unhealthy ways, such as drinking, smoking, or overeating. Others choose to take their attention away from stress by surfing the internet, playing video games, or binge watching TV, which may seem helpful at first, but may actually lead to increased stress levels over the long term.
If the stressor cannot be avoided, there should be healthy and proper strategies to manage the stress:
- Regular physical activity, such as cardio and resistance training and also walking, dancing, and swimming
- Mind-body therapies, such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, tai chi, and even massage
- A regular sleep schedule
- Positive thinking and a sense of humor
- Social support
- Maintaining hobbies, such as reading, listening to music, playing musical instruments, completing art projects, performing volunteer work, etc.
In The End
Knowing all of the above information, you should never allow a car’s dead battery or any other daily hassle to destroy your perfect morning. If your car does not start, instead of getting emotional, try to take three deep breaths and keep in mind that your good day depends on you and not on the circumstances around you. If these types of challenges present themselves to you, some useful ideas should come to mind. For example, you should calmly call the insurance company or another company for road assistance. Next, you need to let others know that you may be late for work or miss an appointment. During the wait for the road assistance, try to practice one minute of a deep breathing exercise, start thinking positively that you still have the situation under control, and focus your mind on imagining a positive outcome. When you finally make it to your final destination, a simple apology should suffice, but do not provide too many details about your stressful morning. Acknowledge that you made it to work or your appointment, and tell yourself that you are ready for the day ahead of you and all the tasks you need to accomplish. You can now put your emotions aside, and your outward appearance and bearing show everyone that you can work under pressure and handle anything that life throws at you, which is a great and valuable quality to have!
Life is stressful and things go wrong all the time. You are the captain of your own ship, who has the power to control any stressful situations and make it safely to your destination! Everyone get on board!
Health, Happiness, and Harmony
Kay
