Not all stress is harmful – but it needs to be released

Stress should be a powerful driving force, not an obstacle. ~Bill Philips

We all experience stress in life. As long as we are living there will be things to deal with, problems to work through, and goals to work towards. Not all stress is harmful. We need just the right amount of tension and pressure to move us forward, to grow, change and strengthen. Stress becomes toxic and negative when we don’t release our tension on a daily basis. Stress also becomes harmful when a person uses alcohol, tobacco, and drugs to try to find relief.

Consider these statistics:
• 75-90% of all Dr visits are stress related ailments and complaints.
• Stress plays a major role in health related issues such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, depression and anxiety, sleeping problems, digestive issues and muscular pain.
• Stress costs American Industry and business more than $300 billion per year

The good news is there are specific things we can commit to that will release our tension and return our body and mind to a calm relaxed state. This will reduce the levels of stress hormone cortisol and promote health and wellness to our body and state of mind.

I want to encourage you to:
• Start your day early. Research has shown that early risers are more proactive, and productive. Make the time to mediate, pray, and exercise at the beginning of each day to start your day empowered.
• Be determined to approach your day positive and optimistic. A positive attitude has been shown to reduce stress and tension, and promote health and wellness in body and mind. Not everything is going to go our way, so we need to take a proactive approach and decide to have a healthy attitude.
• Take ownership of your peace and happiness. Peace and happiness is a choice, not an external circumstance. Decide to enjoy each moment of your day, and be grateful for all your blessings. When we treat each day as a gift, we will find ourselves energized, happy, and peaceful.
• Laugh: be joyful, smile. Find reasons to laugh each day, and lighten up. Laughter brings healing and restoration to life.

So, remember, we have only one day at a time to live so live this day consciously and deliberately and choose well.