4A's + A of Stress Management

October 28, 2021

 Have you experienced being stressed recently? Especially during this pandemic times, being stressed out is common to almost everyone.

We become stressed in a given situation as this is an automatic response of our nervous system. But there are situations that gives us stress or we call them stressors, that are predictable. These stressors happened almost every day in our life, such as commuting to work, a meeting with our boss or rude clients.

These predictable stressors can be handle differently so that it will not be stressors anymore. The situation can be changed or you can change your reaction to the stressors.

These 4A’s will help you decide on which option to choose in any situation you are in. These are AVOID, ALTER, ADAPT or ACCEPT.

AVOID unnecessary stress

You can always avoid stress by learning how to say NO.

               There are times when a friend or a family member asked a favor from you. If you are not willing to do the favor, especially if you don’t have the capacity to do the favor that they asked for, you can always say NO. You must know your limitations.

               Recently, an aunt came to me to ask a favor. She would like to pawn her ATM for a certain amount. Even though I have enough funds for her request, I have to say NO as I too have other accountabilities that I need to pay for. Had I gave her the amount she requested, I would be stressed out when it is time for me to use it.

You can always avoid people who stressed you out.

               There are people who can really stressed us out. I for one have those around me. As much as possible I always avoided their company.

You can always take control of your environment.

               If you think that you got too much on your plate already, drop tasks that are not that urgent or necessary. You might want to put it at the bottom of your to do list or remove them entirely.

ALTER the situation

Learn to express your feelings rather than suppressing or bottling them up. Keeping your feelings to yourself will lead to the buildup of resentment and this will cause you to stress out.

Time management will also help you alter the situation. If for example, you commute to your work and every time you arrive at the bus stop, there are already plenty of passengers waiting for the bus, try to be early and do away with the stress of competing with other passengers.

I experience this before and noticed that when I wait for the jeepney ten minutes earlier than my usual schedule, I get to ride a jeepney right away, unlike during my usual time when I have to wait for more than 15 minutes before I can ride one. That ten minutes makes the difference.

Another way to alter your situation is to create a balanced schedule. Check regularly your schedule. When you find out that it is all work and no play, try to alter it as it is a recipe for being burnt out. Try to find balance between your work, family and social activities.

ADOPT to the stressor

If you can’t change the stressor, change yourself. You can adopt to stressful situations and regain your sense of control by changing your expectations and attitude.

ACCEPT the things you cannot change

If you cannot change it, then accept it, why stressed out yourself for those you cannot change? Right? 😁 Instead of trying to control the stressors, try to focus on what can be controlled by you, such as your reaction to the situation. It is either you give in to your anger, which makes you stress or think positively instead.

We can also make those major challenges that we face from time to time into an opportunity for growth.

Another way of accepting the things that we cannot change is by forgiving and moving on. Do not let the past hinder you from being stressed free.

AMEN.

I added this last A. 😁

Pray and pray. Pour out your feelings to God. He may be silent and physically missing but he is listening.

 Author’s Note:

This topic came out to be when I saw an article about stress management in the company issued planner. I just summarized what was written and rephrased some so that this article will not be tagged as plagiarized. I added the last A because this is my mantra… pray, pray, pray.

 Thank you for un-stressing with me. Have an awesome day!

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That’s all for now folks.

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Plagiarism checked!

 Lead image by Unsplash.