The past few years have seen STRESS take centre stage in many places and it comes as no surprise that it has been labelled “the health epidemic of the 21st century.” Then the COVID-19 pandemic moved stress and mental health in general to another level never experienced in modern times. I dare say that never in the history of the world have so many people experienced similar feelings at the same time. What about the World Wars?We need to take self-care seriously.
It is heart-warming that one will most likely be applauded when they state clearly how they feel and put their mental health above all others. Well, only a few people will still judge people who see the need to make self-care a priority.
Many people have proposed practical ways to manage stress but when all is said and done we have to change our mindset and realize none of us is immune to stress. We can’t even achieve our lofty goals without some element of stress. As Hall and Sanders put it “the biggest misconception about stress is that we have to beat it; when we make stress the enemy we actually create more stress for ourselves. While stress may arise from unregulated negative emotions, intentionally activating positive heart emotions such as care, appreciation, compassion and ease, decrease your stress by creating harmony. POSITIVE THINKING isn’t enough here. It must be positive feelings from the heart to affect your body and brain. It all comes down to learning how to react positively from a mental and emotional standpoint to negative stressors in our lives.” Oh and I know that is no walk in the park but the benefits outweigh the downsides so let us start now.
Read Also: THE COMMON COLD; AN ENEMY OF PRODUCTIVITY
If you are like the majority of people it may be time to set realistic expectations; continuously seeking bigger and better things in every aspect of our lives may be self-destructive as we may be setting ourselves up for failure. I just read your thoughts; there is a fine line between continuous self-improvement and setting unrealistic goals.
Hall’s acronym “S.E.L.F. care” is extremely helpful and easy to remember as well as follow. Give it a try now and incorporate it into your activities of daily living.
