THOUGHTS ABOUT EMBRACING PAIN

THOUGHTS ABOUT EMBRACING STRESS – forms of coping My education training and experience have enabled me to develop and teach others coping skills to manage stress. Most mature adults are well aware that stress is ever present in everyday life. What few mature adults realize is that stress is not a cause but a reaction; the stress we experience is our reaction to stressors. Stressors are those irritating circumstances that lead to what I call pain; I don’t use pain to mean just physical pain but includes all circumstances which ultimately bring discomfort to an individual. It is a natural reflex reaction to get rid of pain as quickly as possible, but too often we do nothing but cover it up; we take a pain killer and go to bed hoping the pain is gone by morning. When we mask pain we also hide the cause of the pain. When we embrace our stress (pain) we examine it until we discover the stressor(s) that caused it: we then take action to eliminate, mitigate, or cope. When we can’t eliminate a stressor we try and mitigate it; failing to reduce the severity of it we develop coping strategies – but we never stop exploring ways to rid ourselves of stressors. I think people who feel that power rest within themselves have a better chance of successfully embracing stress. On the other hand, people who feel that power resides somewhere outside of them have little or no chance of embracing pain. People who mask their pain with drugs, alcohol, or religious belief will find it difficult if not impossible to identify the stressors in their lives. www.adolphusward.net