Life Improvement Tips For The Wise Few

I have witnessed many situations where a person totally lost it from the many stress related issues that was affecting their work environment. This weekend I heard about another close friend of mine being taken up into the psychiatric medical center in Curacao. This saddens me, because in a small community like St. Maarten, we should not be witnessing such major issues of depression.

As I think back and reflect on how we were sitting and joking about the times when you have to make a choice to move forward in life, I am honestly questioning how he could have let himself be affected in such a horrible manner. I really have no intentions of mentioning his name, because of the respect I have for his family, but it really comes as a shock.

As I heard the story of what happened, I must admit that I heard it from more than a couple people so far, and have no way to verify what actually happened, it seems he was locked out of his office and could not get in. It seemed they totally blocked him from returning to work in the most horrific manner possible. He lost his job based on someone taping a conversation he had about someone and they playing back that tape to that person. How low do we stoop in life.

Anyone treated in such a fashion can go over the edge pretty easy. The bills has to be paid, mortgage can’t be paid, school fees can’t be paid, your kids has to eat and a wife breeding down your throat looking for money. I can go on and on, but as you can see, from all those issues, stress can increase on a day to day basis and totally take over your mind and make you loss total control.

To help protect more of you from following that route you I will try and show you how to deal with stress, and I dedicate this article to my friend. Sad to hear you let them win by giving into the nasty tricks that they play on you.

Stress management is not just a fancy name.

It seems many of us have no clue when we are stressing or worrying and don’t know when it is time to back-off and take a little break and free yourself from the surrounding stress levels that is affecting you at that moment. As a small community we have to pay close attention to what is happening around us, we have to know when something is bothering us, we have to learn how to leave all stress related work issues on the JOB and we have to know how to leave family related issues at home.

I did a search on WikiPedia.com, and here is what they have quoted:

“Stress management encompasses techniques intended to equip a person with effective coping mechanisms for dealing with psychological stress, with stress defined as a person’s physiological response to an internal or external stimulus that triggers the fight-or-flight response. Stress management is effective when a person utilizes strategies to cope with or alter stressful situations.” Here is a link you can follow for more information on stress management.

One thing I always praised myself for, is the ability to switch on and switch off what I am feeling. I leave all my problems behind, and I go and do something that I love to free up my mind. Many people see me on a day to day basis and they would swear that I have a perfect life. Well, I do believe that you too have to learn how to deal with stress, and that is the only way to prevent yourself form getting a nervous break down.

Don’t think for a moment that no one is being affected on this lovely little Island, we also have stress related symptoms to deal with, and now that this Island is so over-populated with cars and people, the stress levels are skyrocketing, you have to find simple ways to relieve stress.

Spotting the stress signs and accepting

You might not even know that your stressed if you have no clue what to look for, so I will give you a couple signs that can help you spot the symptoms. There are many signs, but I will give a couple of the more overlooked and common signs.

1. If your in attack mode on a daily basis, it is time for you to start paying close attention to yourself, this is a sign that your taking on a tremendous amount of stress
2. Muscle aches all over your body that you just can’t explain. Lot of tension in the neck muscles
3. A constant feeling of tiredness, you wake up feeling tired, you body is like it is drained, never having enough energy to do anything
4. Forgetfulness, you forget just about anything, no matter how important it is
5. Feeling sad on a daily basis, and not accomplishing much in your life because of how you feel
6. Not taking care of yourself, looking like you clothing or hairstyle is from the stone age
7. Silent attitude, not talking to anyone or confronting anybody about the issues your facing
8. Change in your behavior, your thought patterns, your feelings and your health

The above tips will give you a clear picture for you to be able to spot the signs. It is important that you understand how your own mind and body functions, because your the only person who can give in to the signs and do something about it. No matter how much someone tells you that you have changed, you won’t pay attention until you give in and accept that as a fact and then decides to do something about it.

Combating Stress

You will have to adjust and keep yourself on a healthy and more relaxed schedule, you will feel better and look great. This isn’t something for stressed out persons only, it will do you good and avoid you becoming depressed or just fatigued. Your life can always use a boost, it does wonders once you fuel your body and supply the right doses of the stuff that works.

Eating healthy is the first place to start, eat a good breakfast in the morning, a nice snack for lunch and a warm dinner at night. If your thin, skinny or small and wish to improve your overall health, then add a couple more snacks during the day. Eating more will help you gain more weight. Add a piece of fruit to your daily diet, and drink enough water on a daily basis. Once every month do yourself a favor and stop drinking sodas, and just drink water and fruit juices for one week. It would be best if you do this daily, but I myself just likes a little soda every so often.

Sleep, you should make sure your getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep drains the body and brings on stress, so make sure to give your body the rest it deserves. A thinking mind needs sleep enough rest to function properly.

Exercise, just try to make time for a little bit of muscle movement at least three times per week. It doesn’t matter if you just spend some time walking, it will help. Stop driving your car when you have to go anywhere close, just walk, it is much healthier. All we do on this Island is drive, drive and drive some more, as I see it the only people I see actually walking is the elder folks. Are we waiting until we are old to start getting fit?

Speaking with others about your issues. You have to learn not to bottle up anything that is bothering you and talk about the issues your facing daily. Don’t see them as problems, see them as another issue that you have to overcome. If your afraid to talk about your issues, then your not facing your issues and trying to overcome them. Don’t let nothing become a burden, you have the power to overcome any and everything.

Having a little place you call your own, where you can go to when your stress levels are high. I have such a spot that I go to whenever I am dealing with a issue that is really bothering me. I would love to let you in on my secret spot, but I wouldn’t want the whole Island just coming to the same place, it won’t be a secret spot anymore. I go there and sit just thinking on stuff that relaxes me, I don’t focus on the issue, it is just to get away from it all. And I must admit it really works.

I practice that last tip often with my kids on a ongoing basis. Every once and a while I will come up with the idea and say next week we will have “Say No Week”. This may sound weird, but it really works. What I tell them to do is say no to everything we ask from each other. That is the way to learn how to say no. Many people go through life trying to please everyone, they would never say NO. I do believe the word “no” should be placed with “please” and “thank you”, it is one of those powerful words we have to master.

I have seen people build stress on the job, because they accept work loads when they are already working so hard. They have their no ability shut off. Their stress levels rises and rises, soon they will pop. And guess what will happen when they loose it? All you will hear later is, wow, what a great worker, what happened. That is the first case of over working yourself. Spend time teaching yourself and your kids to say, no.

Your in charge today, but what about tomorrow…

A note to the people who is in charge of this worker, it seems great now that you have pushed a colleague over board, and while you sit and drink together bragging about this. Beware, life throws back some vicious blows your way. Your a manger, I do believe you should have skills and come up with better methods for leaving a worker go. The leaders in our community is acting in a very senseless and selfish manner. I guess it is all OK, because the people in our community seldom speaks out on what happens. As I see it, we can all learn from what is happening here, and stop laughing because it was someone else, it could have been you!
One more thing we should learn from this, and that is money doesn’t bring happiness, so don’t sell your soul just to make a little more of those green dollars. Value your pride and believe in what you stand for. I am seeing that so often today, that it amazes me how one person says one thing, and then turns around and swallows their pride and is now working for the enemy.

My Mom always says; “Money is the root of all evil, show me where I can find some of that evil.” Many people live just like that, they follow the path of making more money, and tramples anyone that gets in their way. My method has always been very simple, I will not snitch or trample anyone to make it in life, and I still live that way. What has to be will be, and what is yours will come to you.