Thanksgiving till Christmas – ‘Tis is the season to be stressed out! Right? Well, maybe not! What if stress is not the problem? What if the problem is the way we respond to stress?Let’s be honest. Stress has been given a bad name. It’s the pressure, hassle, tension, trauma or strain that produces anxiety and worry.
But think about it; stress is not all bad. In fact, it is absolutely necessary. Without it we would never bring our best to the table. Final exams exert pressure on us but without that stress none of us would ever finish high school or college. Driving in heavy traffic is a hassle, but the tension keeps us alert and helps us stay alive.
So stress is a sign that you are alive! The only people who are free from stress are either dead or mentally insane. So never wish you had no stress. Simply look for ways to manage your stress successfully. To live well, you’ve got to manage your stress from the cradle to the grave.
My doctor called in a lovely blond psychiatrist to help me. I had been hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer that almost killed me. I asked her what caused my ulcer. Her response lingers in the corridors of my memory: “Ulcers are caused by many things but my best guess is that you are not handling your stress very well.” As tears filled my eyes, I said, “That is the understatement of the year.”
She gave me good advice. “Take time to rethink your priorities. Begin living one day at a time trying to be faithful to your priorities. Focus on what is important to you and ignore the trifiling things that sap your time and strength.”
I added a little faith to her advice. Faith helped me admit two mistakes. I had tried to be a model pastor, father and husband. And I had failed. Now I was learning the value of simply being a transparent human being who hurts and bleeds like everybody else. My second mistake was relying on myself instead of God. I finally realized that I could never please God without God’s help. So I quit trying so hard and let God take over. It gets easier once you say, “I can’t but He can – if I am willing to trust Him!”
After that bleeding ulcer laid me low, I stopped trying to please people and focused more on doing what seemed right to me in the eyes of God. After all, my true audience is God, not other people.
As for ignoring trifling things, the key is remembering “not to sweat the small stuff.” Many issues are not “ditches to die in.” Life is too short to quibble about trivial matters. It helps to have a short list of issues that trigger your anger button. With a little effort, many little irritations can be quickly flushed down the drain.
Laughter helps. It’s good medicine when stress has made you sick. Laugh at yourself for giving “small stuff” too much attention. You can laugh your way out of the stress traps. Stress can kill you or help you live successfully, so find ways to make it work for you. When you manage it, you are the boss. And it will help to tell Santa to stop hassling you since your main focus is putting Jesus first in your life so that, with His peace, you can continue using stress as a gift of God’s grace. + + +