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Stress & Change: Three Ways to Manage Life Changes More Comfortably
from: Tanja GardnerIt's strange when you think about it, that in a constantly
changing world, human beings don't seem to be better designed to
deal with change. Granted, some of us seem to thrive on constant
change - but most of us are far more comfortable with
consistency. For the vast majority of people, change is
something that's unnerving at best, and downright frightening at
worst.
When you start looking at what a stress reaction actually is,
the way we deal with change isn't too difficult to understand.
Literally, stress is our body's reaction to our mind telling it
there's something we need to adapt to that it's not sure we're
going to be able to manage. When you consider that change, by
its definition will usually involve exchanging a situation we
know from experience we can deal with for one we know no such
thing about, it's no surprise we find change stressful.
So what can we do to make change less stressful for ourselves?
KEEPING OUR RESOURCE LEVELS HIGH
Just as with any other source of stress, we'll deal with the
stress that comes from change better if we keep our general
resource levels high. That means ensuring we're eating enough of
the right foods, getting a reasonable amount of exercise, and
sleeping enough (whatever 'enough' might be for us as
individuals). There's no need to be fanatical about it - it's OK
to eat a little junk food, party a little or skip a workout
every now and then - the important thing is what we do most of
the time. Simply looking after ourselves can make all the
difference between experiencing change as a challenge to be met,
or a whirlwind to be survived.
RELAXATION
Even when change isn't causing our stress responses to go into
overdrive, incorporating some kind of relaxation practice into
our daily lives is a good idea. When stress starts to make
itself felt, relaxation is doubly important. Different folks
find different things relaxing - and it's important to do
something you actually find relaxing, rather than something
experts tell you should be relaxing for you. Consider trying
meditation, yoga, t'ai ch'i, hypnosis audios, journaling,
walking somewhere pleasant or just taking time out to listen to
your favourite music. What you actually do is less important
than that you take regular time out to do it.
THE SITUATION ITSELF
Finally, there's the situation itself. As mentioned above, a big
part of what kicks our stress response off when it comes to
change is our fear of the unknown. The more we know about the
end result of the change that's happening, the less it tends to
cause us stress. So the first thing to do to once you start
feeling stressed about an upcoming change is to get as clear a
picture as possible about it. How much control do you have over
what's happening? How is it going to impact your day-to-day life?
It's well documented that the more control we feel we have over
a situation, the less stress it will cause us. Getting a clear
picture also gives us a better idea of what is really within our
realm of control and what isn't. Often, just knowing we have the
ability to influence the outcome of a change makes it feel less
threatening. Of course, sometimes there's genuinely nothing we
can do one way or the other. If that's the case, it may help to
realise that there are many, many other things in our lives we
have no control over either - the weather and traffic being
prime examples. Just because something's out of our control
doesn't necessarily mean we aren't capable of dealing with it.
For the things we can't control, it can help to do a risk
assessment. What's the worst that could happen, and what
measures can we put into place to help ourselves deal with it if
it does? Specifics here will depend on the nature of the change,
but you may find it helpful to talk it through with a trusted
(and ideally, level-headed) friend, or someone who knows more
about the situation your facing. The important thing here is
that even if you can't control the situation, you can control
your response to it. Knowing in advance that you've thought
about what could happen and you're prepared to deal with it can
go a long way towards managing the stress that comes from change.
CONCLUSION
Feeling stress at the prospect of a major change in our lives is
a natural human response. However, by ensuring we're taking care
of ourselves, and including some kind of regular relaxation
practice in our daily routines, we can do much to minimise the
impact that stress has on our lives. Additionally, by stepping
back and trying to get as clear a picture of how the change will
affect us as possible, we actually lower the likelihood of it
causing a stress response in the first place.
About the author:
Optimum Life Ltd (http://optimumlife.co.nz) provides balanced
stress management services to clients all over the world. For
more information, please visit our website.
For a copy of our free Stress Audit Questionnaire, please e-mail
mailto:tanja@optimumlife.co.nz with "Stress Audit" in the
header.
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