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Posts Categorized: Make Stress Work For You

I Want to do it all!

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

I want to do it all! I want to travel, sing and dance, write and give workshops, teach, have time for friends, read a book every day, entertain, have long conversations with good friends, etc, etc, etc.

However, I soon find myself at odds with time. There are only so many hours in a day after all and unless I can somehow come to terms with what I am able to do each day, I will soon become dis-stressed.

Since I had made the decision long ago to avoid harmful stress, the choices I make are important. While I can’t control events, I am the one who chooses to be in charge of my life. That includes how I choose to respond to events and circumstances.

So then – how do we choose between all the things we want to do?

In the Blink of an Eye

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

The sun was setting, as our sailboat glided silently over the calm waters of the Columbia Bar – a stretch of treacherous water that can challenge the most rugged sailor when the tides drastically change the waters trajectory.

We were on our way home after several glorious weeks of cruising in the San Juan Islands. It took almost an hour and a half to reach Astoria.

After quickly scanning our charts, we decided we could reach a tiny cove located in the upper part of the Columbia River. Cruising at 7 knots, we continued to make our way through the expanded mouth of the river where water spread out over a wide expanse of water giving the illusion of a huge sea of navigational water. Only those who had studied their charts knew that going outside the clearly marked channels could quickly end up running aground in the surrounding shallow water.

From Stop to Go

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

The time has come to have that meeting with myself. I sit down with a clean pad of paper, my “Have to do” list made earlier in the week and a determination to find both short and long term solutions to the overwhelming string of demands on my time.

As is my practice, I start my session with a prayer asking God for wisdom, clarity and strength to follow through. It is so easy to gloss over the things I may be doing that contribute to my problems.

STOP!

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

The phone hasn’t stopped ringing – the kids are fighting again – the teacher called to schedule an emergency conference about your child’s schoolwork – your boss is uncompromising as the company instigates new policies, little time for training and additional workloads for everyone – you can’t afford to lose your job – nobody seems to care – and you are exhausted.

All you want is a quiet evening of peace and quiet, free from any more problems. And then the phone rings, and you cry, “Not another problem, Lord. I can’t take anymore.”

But this time the phone call is from your best friend, who patiently listens as you unload your frustrations. But when you hang up the phone, although some of the pressure has been lifted, you know it will begin again. You have asked God for strength, thanked Him for your special friend and the daily strength He gives you. But the problems are still there and you know you can’t continue like this.

Make Stress Work for You

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

We live in stressful times, constantly bombarded with the need to go faster and faster while still maintaining a high level of productivity. With more and more single parent households, aging seniors and troubled financial times, fear and anxiety become the norm as we deal with the unknowns in our lives.

Advanced technology further complicates our choices because we are led to believe that we need to purchase all the newest electronic product or be left behind. After running all day, we plop into bed at the end of the day and hope we can get enough rest to get up in the morning and start all over again.

Our energy source has been compromised. “Normal” stress that allows us to live has been turned to “dis-stress”. And what is worse we are led to believe that is the only way we can live.

When Stress Accumulates

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Torrent of Water We were meant to handle stress. However, when our level of stress continues to rise without relief, we soon become flooded. Like rising water in a river, when it overflows its banks, everything around it is flooded and damaged. High levels of stress can begin to damage our health as well. We…

Deer in the Headlights

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Click to play MP3 Podcast #1: Deer in the Head Lights Podcast 1 – Deer in the Head LightsFrozen in place As I drove around the curve in the road there ahead of me, frozen in the headlights of my car, was a young female deer.  As I slammed on the brakes swerving to miss…

The Stress in Our Lives

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

How do you deal with stress?  What do you say to yourself about what you are experiencing?   We can experience stress through an onslaught of everyday problems that seem to accumulate like a snowball rolling down hill.  We barely have time to deal with one major problem when another appears.  Or we get hit…