Is Stress Management Real?

Recently, for a college class, I had chosen to research a wellness article on stress management. Managing my stress is something I struggle with and that is why I chose to do the assignment on the topic.  I am a worrier.  I think I was blessed with the "worry" trait from my late grandmother, whom I love very much.  In reading this article, it started off by saying that, "the simple realization that you're in control of your life is the foundation of stress management".  Then the article went on to state that, "managing stress is all about taking charge."  This is where it started making some sense.  For most of my life, I didn't allow myself to take charge.  I always worried what others thought first.  I put my own feelings second.  I am still trying to fully take charge of my stress and I'm getting better at it, but I still have room for improvement.  It also stated that, "stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life." Next, you are supposed to look at reasons and causes for the stress. Then, it talks about a stress journal.  For me, this is one of the reasons why I started to blog.  It is my journal.  Now for some people, journaling is private.  I respect that fact if that is what that person needs.  For me, however, I journal on my blog and I post it for others to read, because the other part of it is that I want to have a voice.  For a lot of my life, I had a voice that wasn't heard.  This is where the taking charge part comes into play for me.  I blog about the things that matter to me.  I post it so my voice is heard.  Some of things are light and pleasant to hear, and some things are not.  Some think it is selfish and I call it personal.  My goal of this blog is to accomplish exactly what I read in my stress management article, journal your feelings and that is what I am doing.  Another reason why I chose this blog route is not to attention seek.  I know that it can come off that way and appear that I am desperate for someone to pay attention to me.  That is not the case here either.  I have a good social life.  I just often times think that if for some reason my life were to end abruptly, I want the people most important to me to kind of know my whole story.  See, I was taught growing up to keep things to myself and not "share" feelings.  That is how I was trained.  I now know this isn't right or healthy. This stress management article exactly states,"to express your feelings instead of bottling them up".  I bottled them up for a long time and now I am ready to share them.  A blog, for me, is a good way to start opening up.  When talking in person, I still struggle with opening up, because it is still a fairly new concept to me.  Everyday, I remind myself to not bottle things up and not let someone else decide how I feel.  This is leading me to a healthier lifestyle.  I would like to think that I have come a long way already in the ten or so blogs that I have written and released.  I can tell you that some people close to me are extremely unhappy with me because of some of the things I have published.  What those people need to understand is that I didn't name anybody, I didn't write anything to belittle anybody, because that is just immature and unnecessary.  What I did instead is recall facts about me and my life, which is the goal of my blog.  I also disclosed how those recalled facts made ME feel and how they affected ME.  I did not go the direction of slamming the sources of those feelings.  That solves nothing.  I look forward to continuing my blog and sharing with those who are important in my life, because I want those to know me for who I am.  I think the world today is so fast paced that we don't take the time anymore to get to know people past a first impression or a quick judgement.  I don't want to be that guy that someone says, "What the hell is this guy's deal?", or "he's an asshole."  I just want people to know me for me and what I am about.  My blog is one of the best decisions I have made in quite some time.  I hope you enjoy what I am sharing and I will continue to share my stories and feelings as we move forward.  

STRESS MANAGEMENT by Helpguide.org

www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm

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