Stress Awareness Month

Stress can be debilitating, and it can cause and/or aggravate health problems. And since stress is a normal part of human existence — nobody is immune to it — it’s important to arm ourselves with knowledge so that we recognize when stress rears its ugly head. (Amazingly, we don’t always notice it’s happening to us.) Stress Awareness Month happens each April. It’s important to learn some strategies for coping with this particular silent scourge. – via Stress.Org

On a phone call with my cousin, I told her I was ‘enjoying’ the pandemic! She laughed. We’re both introverts. We love staying at home and dread times we’re invited to parites. Large groups are stressful for us.

I’m aware though that it’s quite the opposite for other people. They’re missing out on their stress busters – a vacation, a night out, parties. Being cooped up for almost a year, can be very stressful – especially for people living in small houses, for those with toddlers and children who are raring at the bit.

Stress is real.

Stress Awareness Month

One of the reasons, that we could be so stressed during the pandemic is that we’re creatures of habit. And the lockdowns and other restrictions have caused us to change our habits. We can either choose to go with the flow and see this as an opportunity to change our lifestyle or we can keep getting upset and consequently more stressed.

Today I’m reminded of a Zen story that illustrates how sometimes mindless activity can take a hold of us and cause us stress.

A horse suddenly came galloping quickly down the road. It seemed as though the man had somewhere important to go. Another man, who was standing alongside the road, shouted, “Where are you going?” and the man on the horse replied, “I don’t know! Ask the horse!”

We’ve got to take back our lives and show stress who is boss!