By Crystal Tullos
Let’s be real. Most days stress piles upon more stress, leaving nothing but feelings of pressure, fatigue and burn out.
As much as we’d all like to manage our life concisely and precisely, most days we’re just in the grind of getting from Point A to Point B alive and with a smile on our faces.
Regardless of your season of life, you probably need help learning how to live stress free. Maybe you’ve just gotten through the crazy season of child-rearing and building businesses, and you’re enjoying the fruits of your labor. Perhaps, you’re not to this season yet, and you’re simply learning to manage your own life where all you’re responsible for is you…and you’ve barely conquered that yet. Maybe you’re learning to navigate the new season of dating or marriage or a new baby. Maybe you’re a single parent handling everything all by yourself.
Whatever your season, at times, everyone feels overloaded, stressed out and anxious and needs help learning how to live stress free.
GOD CAN HELP YOU LIVE STRESS FREE
There’s a great passage in the Bible in Ephesians 5:10-18 in the Message version that says this:
“…Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life…”
Did you know you’ve been created for peace and not stress?
3 WAYS TO LIVE STRESS FREE TODAY
Here’s three ways you can keep your “shoes of peace” on so you’ll handle the pressures and anxiety of your world and live stress free.
1) Take the pressure off yourself.
Don’t misunderstand this to mean that you’re allowed to be lazy and unprofessional or scattered. Those qualities can make the stress worse. Do everything you can to keep up, organize, create systems and calendars, plan and prepare, but if something must give, let it give. If you can’t meet a deadline, say so. If you can’t meet for coffee, say so. If you can’t achieve an expectation, say so. If you need help, ask for it. Be honest about your schedule without apologizing. You don’t need to start every text message with, “I’m sorry.” Live guilt-free knowing you’re doing the best you can.
2) Take a timeout.
Have you ever been such a workaholic that you won’t take bathroom breaks? That’s seriously unhealthy. It’s okay – in fact, it’s recommended by all sorts of medical and business professionals to take a short 5-minute break every 20-25 minutes of work. Go to the bathroom. Take a trip around the office and drink a bottle of water. Sit down with your kids and read a book to them. Don’t rush through that family dinner. Pause and breathe.
3) Don’t keep secrets.
Okay. You can keep the secret of your friend’s surprise party. That’s fine. Avoid the guilt-ridden secrets, though. You’ll live life so much more at peace if you have nothing to hide. You can’t handle the pressures of your life if your inner life is under pressure. Your foundation must be strong. Practically, don’t spend money in secret. Don’t have the affair. Don’t sneak around online and worry about deleting things you’ve searched. Don’t hide text messages and emails and instant messages. Don’t have that conversation all gossipy like that you’d have to defend later. If you’ve screwed up, tell someone. Confess to God. Cry. Share your passwords with your spouse or friends. Get counseling if you need it. Do whatever you need to live life stress free.
