If stress burned calories, how thin would you be?
No one can live a stress-free life. Stress and life are package deals, and they can be tricky at times, particularly when they catch you off guard. The challenge is finding sustainable ways to manage them so they don't manage you, and Gratitude Journaling is one way to do just that. It’s a simple, sustainable, and effective practice that reduces stress and anxiety without compromising your health.
Stress can be tricky because it is both good and bad. Good stress is a creative kind that inspires and motivates us. Learning a new hobby, exercising, and setting a new goal are examples of good stress. On the other hand, toxic relationships, financial worries, and loss are examples of bad stress, sometimes referred to as distress, that, when unchecked, can undo us and everything we stand for.
Distress affects every organ system in the body, and research is proving it to be a major contributor to heart, brain, and respiratory diseases; mental health, skin, immune, reproductive, joint and muscle, and digestive system disorders; cancer; and weight gain and weight loss. It also the culprit when it comes to violent behavior. When we look at the leading causes of premature death and disability, constant and prolonged exposure to stress is usually an underlying factor.
So, how does Gratitude Journaling help you de-stress? When you list the things you’re grateful for each day, the good, the bad, and the undesired, you begin to:
· Recognize what triggers stress
· Reflect on thoughts and emotions that arise in stressful situations to gain clarity on the issues at hand
· Gain a deeper understanding of your inner strengths to cope with stress in a healthy way
Free pent-up emotions without judgment or negative consequences.
Realize that bottled-up emotions are a precursor to DIS-EASE
Showing more gratitude for my body helped me pay closer attention to its reactions in stressful situations and what I discovered is that it would always let me know when distress was about to creep in and possibly cause damage. Like seven years ago, when I found Mia on her bedroom floor fighting for her life after suffering a massive stroke, the knots in my stomach was the first indicator of what I needed to do to get through the tragedy – I had to journal my way through it.
Often, when life throws us a curve ball and stress turns to distress, we ignore the warning signs. We dismiss the feelings of anxiety or nervousness, changes in appetite, difficulty sleeping, feeling unusually tired, becoming easily angered and irritable, frequent headaches, skin rashes, stomach issues, just naming a few of the warning signs. We gradually accept these feelings as normal, and before we realize it, they have wreaked havoc on us mentally, physically, or both.
So, how do you manage stress? Do you engage in behaviors that are life-enhancing or self-defeating? Regardless of your answer, let me remind you that Gratitude Journaling is a transformative life-enhancing practice worth trying, particularly if what you're doing isn't working.
If you’re already journaling to manage stress, Write On! If not, make the small change by embarking on one of the most amazing journeys you’ll ever take, the Gratitude Journaling journey. Need help getting started? Contact me at smallchange@myrtlerussell.com
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