In my last blog, I discussed some of the science behind stress. We all know that stress can take its toll on our physical and mental well-being. Research continues to probe the ways stress is linked to disease and can shorten our life span. And it can certainly make our remaining years less enjoyable.

So what can you do about stress? Of course there are a whole slew of suggestions on wellness and time management skills to help prevent some of the stressors before they even occur. Proper nutrition, regular exercise, a solid support network, a positive mindset, and sleep are all vital. But not all stressors can be predicted or planned around. Here are some simple tips to reduce stress via physical activity and healthy eating choices when you find that you are feeling unusually anxious or ready to shut down.

Stress that is left unchecked can lead to a wide range of mental and physical health problems. We all know stress can contribute to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and headaches, but did you know that stress has also been linked to diabetes, and some studies even suggest a possible link to cancer? Let’s take a brief look at some of the science behind stress.

What is Stress Anyway?

In a nutshell, stress is a physical, mental, or emotional reaction to change. This often occurs when we believe a situation is “too much” and is endangering our well-being. At the heart of all stress is the feeling of a loss of personal control – even if the change is a positive one.

We’ve all heard the phrase “out of an abundance of caution.” Lately, out of an abundance of caution, we’ve worn masks, closed schools, socially distanced, reduced capacity, locked ourselves down.

I’m not here to debate the necessity of any of this. I’m here to pose a question:

Are you living your life out of an abundance of caution?

Were you essentially wearing a mask and hiding indoors before COVID ever hit? Out of an abundance of caution, have you decided that unseen and safe are better than seen and exposed?

This isn’t about common sense safety – wearing a seatbelt, locking a door – or sound decision-making – weighing pros and cons, doing research, vetting an idea. And I’m not talking about personal preferences, like whether to skydive (no, thank you) or invest in high-risk stocks.

There’s something magical about beginnings. They represent a clean slate and the opportunity to begin something new. Wrapped up in beginnings is the promise of happiness, growth, adventure. The blank canvas stretched out before us is exhilarating. Life is the canvas, and we are its artist. There is only hope, potential, and whatever we dare to dream.

For many of us, each new year marks this kind of beginning. We commit to new goals and a new way of being. Whether it’s a new career, fitness routine, financial strategy, or way of looking at ourselves or others, we see the beginning as an opportunity to move forward and to leave behind what limits us. We face the future with optimism and a can-do spirit.

But before long, the newness gives way to the sameness of the days that follow. It’s not easy holding on to that magical feeling. Days blend into weeks, weeks into months, months into years. Things that weren’t part of the plan pop up and throw us off course. As time goes on, we often find that we are sitting in the middle of the canvas…and we’re not even sure if we’re the artist anymore.

Is it possible we need to change the way we look at beginnings?

Picture this: a young girl in a pretty pink dress, ribbons in hair, twirling delightedly. She is with her mom and sisters on an outing to the mall. Her mom has just bought her an ice cream cone. This is a special treat. She keeps twirling, ice cream cone in hand. At this moment, she hasn’t a care in the world. She feels pure joy.

Until the ice cream goes flying off her cone.

No more ice cream – and no more twirling. She is distraught and quickly learns that she shouldn’t have been twirling with ice cream in her hand in the first place.

Obviously.

As life goes on, she tries to be more careful. So many “rules.” She tries to follow the rules. But it’s not easy keeping track of them. More ice cream drops. Eventually she stops twirling altogether.

She edits, she pleases, she is oh so careful.

Can you relate to this girl? Although the girl with ice cream was me at 7 or 8, I think there’s a little of this girl in each of us.

Do you find yourself wishing you had more hours in the day? Or maybe you struggle to follow through on your good intentions because you feel so pressed for time?

If so, I can relate. I’ve been there. As in, much of my life.

I think time management is one of the greatest challenges in our daily lives, and also something that provides great joy and freedom – once we get a grip on it. As Harvey Mackay once said:

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.”

Oh, the stress! Crazy schedules, COVID worries, doctor’s visits, parenting battles, work dilemmas, relationship issues, health concerns, messy houses, caring for aging parents, losing loved ones. At times our lives can simply feel like too much. The stress we feel not only depletes us emotionally, but takes a huge toll on us physically too.

Why does stress leave us feeling so run down? When you’re stressed, your entire being – your mind, body, and spirit, and all of their sub-systems that keep you running every day – devote all of their resources to managing your stressful event. In essence, you go into survival mode and your systems operate at full capacity. Your body taps into every form of emotional and physical energy and grabs from its reserves as well. Even if you feel frozen in your stress, your body is actively working to prepare you to deal with your stressors.

As part of this response, stress depletes our bodies of several important vitamins and minerals. And on top of that, we tend to skip meals and just grab whatever is at hand to keep us going. It’s no wonder we end up feeling so drained.

We’ve all heard that journaling can be a powerful way to gain clarity and connect more deeply with our inner selves. A simple Google search will highlight the many benefits of journaling. I consider it an incredibly powerful meditative act. Yet few of us take the time to sit down and journal on a regular basis.

I think our resistance to journaling exists for one simple reason: it seems like such an optional activity that we don’t think we have time for. A “nice for some people but not really necessary for me” type of activity. And with all the busyness in our lives, who needs another task – especially something so “fluffy” – to add to our “to do” list?

I’m here to suggest that journaling may actually be one of the most important things you do in your day – every day. Before I dive into my three simple tips for starting a journal, let me briefly highlight just a smattering of the benefits of journaling. Journaling helps:

• increase clarity and vision

• reduce stress and anxiety

• sharpen memory

• promote creativity

• boost mood and confidence

• focus on the present

• foster a spirit of gratitude

• work through confusion or hurt

• expand our awareness

• strengthen our understanding of our core values

• improve immune function (!)

• process traumatic events

• learn via actively engaging with ideas

• improve decision-making and critical thinking

• recall pleasant memories

• increase self-efficacy and productivity

And the list goes on.

When it comes to overcoming adversity, there are many stories of great men and women who have found meaning and joy through suffering.

About 20 years ago, a family friend passed along a book – Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century, by David Aikman, former senior foreign correspondent for Time Magazine. The tagline reads, “True stories of virtue to delight the mind and stir the spirit.”

My kind of book.

On the inside jacket, Aikman writes, “What has struck me as a reporter for most of my adult life is the capacity of individual human beings again and again to rise above their times and their circumstances and to change, if only just a little, the direction of the human tide.”

In the book, Aikman tells the stories of six remarkable individuals – Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Billy Graham, Pope John Paul II, Elie Wiesel, and Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn.

I would like to talk about Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn today.

As I stood at the edge of the cliff glancing back over my shoulder, I knew I had a choice to make.

OK, let me back up. No pun intended (you’ll see).

One Time at a Dude Ranch…

Ten years ago I went to a dude ranch (aka western guest ranch) in Arizona for a week-long workshop on corporate communication. Actually, that was the stated purpose of the workshop. It was actually more like a week of life-changing introspection and personal growth.

Our dude ranch was situated in the Saguaro National Park, part of the Sonoran Desert just miles from Tucson. I was with a group of 20 for a “master class.”

There were horseback rides, desert walks, and a smudging ceremony.

But I hadn’t seen anything in the promotional materials about hurtling down the side of a cliff. 

This morning I decided to go for a run.

Which is interesting, actually, because I’m not a runner.

So yes, sometimes I run when I have to. Like when it’s raining and I don’t want to get wet.

Or when I’m at the beach and the sand is too hot.

That’s the kind of runner I am.

So, as I found myself lacing up my “running” shoes this morning, only one thought was going through my head. “I’m not a runner.”

And then I went out and ran.

I ran three miles. And it felt great.

We all love to be in the flow state. You know – that magical moment when you are so in the groove that the work you’re doing seems almost effortless. You no longer look for interruptions to rescue you from the drudgery of your task – instead, you avoid interruptions like the plague.

The flow state can even make you feel almost superhuman. But it can be so elusive. Why is this? And how can we get in flow state more often?