Features
Stress management strategies
Stress is an Emotional Virus that eats away your happiness and creative intelligence – (Robert Grimmond-Thompson- Emotional Surgeon / Neuro Kinetic Surgeon )
1. Avoid unnecessary stress
Not all stress can be avoided, and it’s not healthy to avoid a situation that needs to be addressed. You may be surprised, however, by the number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate.
Learn how to say “no” – Know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, refuse to accept added responsibilities when you’re close to reaching them. Taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress.
Avoid people who stress you out – If someone consistently causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.
Take control of your environment – If the evening news makes you anxious, turn the TV off. If traffic gets you tense, take a longer but less-travelled route. If going to the market is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online.
Avoid hot-button topics – If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people, stop bringing it up or excuse yourself when it is the topic of discussion.
Pen down your to-do list – Analyse your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the “should” and the “must.” Drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.
2. Alter the situation
If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Figure out what you can do to change things so the problem doesn’t present itself in the future. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.
Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you don’t voice your feelings, resentment will build and the situation will likely remain the same.
Be willing to compromise. When you ask someone to change their behaviour, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend at least a little, you’ll have a good chance of finding a happy middle ground.
Be more assertive. Don’t take a backseat in your own life. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. If you’ve got an exam to study for and your chatty roommate just got home, say up front that you only have five minutes to talk.
Manage your time better. Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead and make sure you don’t overextend yourself, you can alter the amount of stress you’re under.
3. Adapt to the stressor
If you can’t change the stressor, change yourself. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain your sense of control by changing your expectations and attitude.
Reframe problems. Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective. Rather than fuming about a traffic jam, look at it as an opportunity to pause and regroup, listen to your favourite radio station, or enjoy some alone time.
Look at the big picture. Take perspective of the stressful situation. Ask yourself how important it will be in the long run. Will it matter in a month? A year? Is it really worth getting upset over? If the answer is no, focus your time and energy elsewhere.
Adjust your standards. Perfectionism is a major source of avoidable stress. Stop setting yourself up for failure by demanding perfection. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others, and learn to be okay with “good enough.”
Focus on the positive. When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life, including your own positive qualities and gifts. This simple strategy can help you keep things in perspective.
4. Accept the things you can’t change
Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressors such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are.
Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change. Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the behaviour of other people.
Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems. Look for the upside. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes.
…to be continued.
• Robert Grimmond-Thompson
Features
Mysteries of this world
A young boy was travelling on a school trip to Mountain Afadja and his younger brother asked him to buy him meat pie when returning home from the journey. On their way back to Accra, he saw a vendor with meat pie and he moved quickly towards the front of the vehicle to buy one through the window.
A few seconds later, a vehicle smashed into the back of the bus where he was moments before and the aftermath was a disaster. His desire to honour his promise to his younger brother, saved him from death.
A lot of the students at the rear area of the bus died. Such is life and certain things are inexplicable. What made him see the meat pie vendor and leave the back seat towards the front of the bus, moments before the heavy truck crashed into the rear of the bus?
There are happenings in life that does not simply make sense and if you try to apply logical reasoning to them, they fail to explain why what happened.
Recently a young man who was working at a construction site decided to stop work briefly to get something to eat. On his way returning back, the whole three story building that he was working in had completely collapsed with a couple of his colleagues under the rubble.
Again the question is, why did he not delay his going out of the building for a few minutes which would have made him a victim of the incident? No logical explanation to this.
A cousin of mine was living in Takoradi during the early days of the 31st December revolution. One morning on his way to work, he was stopped by a soldier holding a gun and he told my cousin to get unto a truck parked by the roadside, ostensibly to join others already onboard to go do some job.
He was annoyed by someone just ordering him simply because he had authority. He brushed the gun aside and went past the truck heading towards his shop. According to him he heard behind him a gun being clocked and then he heard a soft voice telling him not to look back but continue along. He then hear people shouting “oh, oh” but he did not turn around to look back.
The place was a short distance from his refrigeration repair shop so he soon reached his shop. A few minutes after sitting down in front of his shop, people came rushing to him enquiring where he got his ‘power’ from. He asked them what they were talking about and they told him that the soldier clocked his gun to shoot him but as he suddenly started collapsing unto the ground.
This led them to believe that my cousin have some kind of juju powers, hence they asked him where he went for spiritual fortification. The intriguing question is, whose voice did he hear ordering him not to look back? It still baffles him up to this day.
The June 3rd disaster is another instance of a deliverance from certain death that my brother-in-law experienced. That afternoon he had gone to buy items for his JHS 3 son and as usual when going home, had gone to a store where he has some friends to chat with them for a while before going home.
After some few minutes, he decided to go home since he had been drenched by the drizzling that came after the earlier heavy rainfall. When he got home about 35 minutes later, he switched on the TV and a fire disaster that has burnt people to death as well as destroyed a fuel station, vehicles and buildings near the filling station, including the store where he had stopped to chat a short while ago. A voice had convinced him to leave the place and that was what saved him.
Being a Christian, I would attribute it to God but why he choose to deal with certain individuals and deliver them and the criteria for selection, is a mystery
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
Features
Navigating your emotional landscape: A journey of self-discovery and healing
Introduction
Our emotional landscape is a vast and intricate terrain, shaped by our experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and memories. It’s a world where our emotions, both conscious and unconscious reside, influencing our relationships, decisions, and overall well-being.
In this article, we’ll explore the concept of the emotional landscape, its components, and how understanding it can lead to greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and healing.
The components of the emotional landscape
Our emotional landscape consists of various regions, each representing a different emotional state. These regions are shaped by our:
– Life experiences: Trauma, relationships, and significant events.
– Thoughts and beliefs: Positive or negative self-talk.
– Emotions: Joy, sadness, anger, fear, and more.
– Memories: Happy, painful, or neutral.
– Coping mechanisms: Healthy or unhealthy strategies for managing emotions.
Exploring your emotional landscape
To navigate your emotional landscape, start by:
– Identifying emotional patterns and triggers.
– Recognising areas for growth and healing.
– Developing emotional awareness and regulation.
– Cultivating self-compassion and acceptance.
Benefits of understanding your emotional landscape
By exploring and understanding your emotional landscape, you can:
– Gain greater self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
– Develop more effective coping mechanisms.
– Improve relationships and communication.
– Enhance emotional resilience and well-being.
– Unlock personal growth and transformation.
Conclusion
Navigating your emotional landscape is a journey of self-discovery and healing. By understanding the components of your emotional landscape and exploring its regions, you can gain a deeper connection with yourself and develop a more authentic, wholehearted existence.
Remember, your emotional landscape is unique and ever-changing, and embracing its complexities can lead to a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
BY ROBERT EKOW GRIMMOND-THOMPSON
