Posted 1/5/2014 8:02 PM (GMT 0)
Hiawatha,
I believe stress plays a huge part in our well-being. But even more importantly, it's what we do with that stress, what we choose to use as coping mechanisms, (or if we choose to stuff things inside and not deal with them at all, just keeping our fingers crossed).
We will always have stressors in our life. At one time I thought if I could get rid of "those things" that were causing me stress, I would be fine. I expressed this to my therapist, and as soon as those words came out of my mouth, she just smiled and gave me a look, and it dawned on me: If not this stress, it'll be another stress! It wasn't about trying to eliminate what I perceived as those particular stressors,...it was about making myself more resilient and learning how to cope differently than I had!
Stress is also how we grow. Again, not the stress itself ("stress" is a stimulant),...but in my opinion, the key to getting through this is learning ways that, for you, empower you to cope with these stressors in your life and build up the power inside of you to deal with stressors that will inevitably come up in the future. Learning ways to handle stress, (this, those, others), make you stronger and more in control. While we cannot control circumstances in our life, we do have the power to respond to them in new ways.
HW has a great Anxiety forum. I post there a lot because I am, by nature, a happy person, but an anxious person. There are some remarkable people on all the forums, and you'll hear many stories about things we've tried, things we do or did,...and who knows. You may find some information that causes a light bulb to go off.
Take what works for you, leave the rest, and create your own power center filled with coping mechanisms. You've found a great place here at HW.
M.