Introduction

Being a Super You can be hard work. If you're anything like me, you wear lots of hats through the week, and juggling life's responsibilities can be a big challenge. In fact, it's easy to wonder how you can take care of yourself day-to-day! Just think about the volume of information we are exposed to every day. Our smart phones have more computing horsepower than the Apollo Spacecrafts, and we wonder why we feel a bit foggy!

Kicking Stress Habits

So today, we're going to focus on the next big challenge we face: stress. As we began changing our lives through better food choices, Jamie and I realized that eating well was only a piece of the puzzle to a healthy life. After all, if we couldn't enjoy our life, if we were so consumed with stress that we were constantly distracted from all of life's blessings, what was the point?

Musical Stress Release

Experts say that everyone should have a good way to reduce stress, and mine happens to be playing & composing music. Usually, the songs are happy, but on one particularly frustrating day, I wrote my heart out in song. I wrote about my frustration working with my husband every day, and I must admit, it had the makings of a horrible country song. I was the poor misunderstood women, and I think it could have involved a pick-up truck too. Maybe an old dog, but I digress...

Several years later, I was cleaning out the old dresser I had stuffed the song into, and came upon it. I remembered the moment I wrote the lyrics, and remember well just how frustrated I was. But then, I began to giggle, because it all seemed so silly now that I was not in that frame of mind. Jamie asked what was so funny, and I handed him the page. He started reading the lyrics out loud and by the chorus, we we both laughing hysterically.

Time May Heal All

It just goes to show that even the most tense and stressful situations today can look completely differently if given time. We don't get to choose all of our circumstances, but we can choose our response to them. Learning to manage stress will keep our responses appropriate for the situations we find ourselves in.

Dr. Wright's Stress Prescription

The Simple Stress Prescription? Experience more stress ' the positive kind. There are two kinds of stress in the world, according to Dr. Hans Seyle, the founder of stress research. Distress (what we commonly call stress) and Eustress (good stress).

Eustress can be anything that makes you feel positive. This might be meeting a goal, beating a challenge, meeting that 'special someone' or getting a promotion at work. It might mean completing a vigorous workout. This type of stress occurs when you meet your goals.

Information Overload and Distress

I don't need to describe distress to any modern American. We are pulled from all sides, and get more information than ever before. Dr. Hilbert, a researcher at University of Southern California, found that in 1986 we received the equivalent of about 40 newspapers full of information daily (85 pages long). By 2007, we were receiving the equivalent 174 newspapers-worth of information every single day. Some researchers now estimate that we have more bits of data floating around than there are grains of sand on the Earth. We are overloaded with information, demands, and noise!

Distress is something we face every day, but increasing your eustress can help you cope more easily with the distress that comes, but other habits can also help you when life hits you where it hurts. You can also take time to evaluate what "noise" you want to eliminate from your life. Maybe you don't need to take in 24 hour TV news, or check that Facebook status 10 times a day, or listen to that depressing song again?

Coping Strategies

So what do we do during stress? Do we lay down or do we choose to make a stand? Thousands of our clients have chosen to stand up against the atrocities of distress and move to more eustress. Remember, stress is not a victimless crime, and it's time to take a stand, Super You!

No Criticism

Probably the biggest critic you will ever face in this life is yourself. As you think about your stress, it's important to remember that most of it lies between your ears.

This challenge is simple: Just Go For It! Start somewhere, and don't expect perfection with yourself. It's so important that you spend your time bettering yourself instead of running yourself down with criticism. When you misstep or fail, dust yourself off and move on. As we tell our clients, no one trips on the sidewalk, then lays down crying and says, "Well I guess I might as well give up!" That would be crazy! Instead, you dust yourself off, bind your wounds, learn to be more careful, and move forward.