Stress

Preventing stress – for more well-being and happiness in life

The paradox of our time is that we live in such a fast-paced, changing world, in which there is usually nothing essentially lacking, but we still do not find the time to deal with the really important and worth-living aspects of life. Many people rush through everyday life and apply their behaviour from the job to their private environment – the best basis for lasting stress, because this does not allow themselves any freedom for their own mistakes, new discoveries or experiences that are not well planned.

In this article we want to talk about what it takes to avoid stress in the first place – if you want to prevent stress, you should try to learn as much as possible from the following and integrate it into your life.

Preventing stress through an active and open-minded lifestyle

Permanent tension inhibits creativity, leads to a kind of “tunnel vision” and is the basis for a number of mental and physical illnesses that considerably reduce the well-being. To prevent stress, it is therefore important to first pay attention to one’s own needs. Many people “become detached from their lives” and are no longer aware why or for what they are applying all this effort. It is therefore advisable to regularly review one’s own needs, interests and preferences, and to make sure of them in order to discover aspects in one’s own life that damage or counteract the quality of life.

• Give every day the chance to become a good day. Try not to get too lost in the daily routine and be open towards new people. New encounters remind us that there are countless ways to shape one’s own life. Here, it’s not about right or wrong, but about the variety, experiences and the exchange between people – humans are a highly social species.
• Try to eat a healthy and natural diet. The less processed a food is, the better. Thus, there is no risk of malnutrition, obesity or similar. Do you ignore diets and dietary supplements, after all, previous generations did not need something like this to live long and healthy, or did they?
• Do sports regularly, and exercise with others, in a group or in a course. Through this, you can quickly find new people and expand your social circle with new acquaintances. Be open to new types of exercise and try different ones until you find what you are looking for. Those who want to prevent stress will find exactly the balance they need in regular sports activities.
• Try to observe structured sleeping hours. This will give your life a rhythm, you’ll feel more vital, well-rested and efficient. It is best not to eat for a few hours before going to bed, and to completely avoid electronic devices, noise or other stress factors. It’s better to prepare yourself for the sleep with a ritual that will calm you down and relieve tensions.

Alcohol, tobacco, etc. only in moderation, otherwise it could start a risky cycle

The older you get, the lower the amount of water in your body – if you consume the same amount of alcohol at an old age, you will feel the consequences much longer and more drastically. Please do not make the mistake of betting on alcohol or other medicinal aids to wind down or relax. This can quickly lead to a cycle of dependency and addiction that will make it almost impossible for you to relax and regenerate gently.

Quite a few people drink so regularly and in such excessive quantities that this circumstance itself can become a stress factor. Although the numbing and the effect of the drug may make it possible to forget or repress what is inconvenient in the short term, but this doesn’t solve any problems. At the same time, we know from addiction research that people who use alcohol as a means of reducing stress are much more at risk of addiction. Tolerances develop very quickly, which means that people will drink more and more to achieve the same effect. A cycle that can not only affect the social life, but also the organs, and cognitive or emotional feelings.

Other tips to proactively prevent stress

• Accept yourself the way you are. The constant comparison with others is useless because it puts you under unnecessary pressure – everyone is different and has a different perception, stress tolerance and the like.
• Be patient if some things don’t go the way you initially imagined. Sometimes it takes the help of a good friend, or just some time. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day either.
• Let the help be provided to you if you need it. It takes more courage to admit weaknesses and to bet on others, than to refuse any help and to cope with everything yourself.
• Listen to your intuition more often, since your gut feeling often has the proper notion to classify and evaluate situations. In this way you also give people the chance to get to know you better, even if the external circumstances might speak against it.
• Learn to say no. You don’t have to participate in everything, you don’t have to experience or see everything – it is often sufficient to listen to yourself and then decide what is important to you or not.
• Just live through many situations with a dash of humour. Laughter is the most natural remedy for stress, it releases tension and clears the mind.
• Take time out to really invest time for things that are important to you. Set a specific day or time for this, where you might do something with a good friend, your partner or just on your own. Introduce some diversity into your life.
• Accept that some things are simply beyond your sphere of influence. Those who want to prevent stress must realise that sometimes we are dependent on others, or that things happen without the option to do anything about them actively.
• Conflicts at work or in a partnership usually smolder when there is little time in everyday life to actually do something together or to tackle problems. Sometimes it can make sense to change your location, or to take a break alone or in pairs in order to give love a new chance to blossom.

These tips are intended to help you relieve stress, and increase your own well-being. Not everything will work right away nor can it be easily integrated into everyday life, but there will always be ways to apply certain parts thereof, or to develop our own approaches that lead to a better perception of ourselves and our needs. Life has many surprises in store, and those who venture into the unknown will certainly be rewarded!