Are you stressed?

Are you feeling anxious and restless? Are you lacking motivation and feeling overwhelmed? Are you highly irritable of late and losing temper too easily? Have you been crashing frequently with friends, colleagues and loved ones lately? Are you experiencing recurrent headaches, muscle tension and unusual fatigue? Do you feel like staying away from people? If married, have you lost taste in sex?

If yes, you are stressed. If you don’t manage stress, you’ll be depressed. Your appetite for food and for life will drastically drop. You might abuse drugs or alcohol to cope. Your blood pressure will rise and you risk stroke or heart attack. What is stressing you? Marriage? Divorce? Broken relationship? Loneliness? Discrimination at work? Job loss? Failed business? Loss of a loved one? Chronic illness?

Over 75% of adults are stressed. We can’t eliminate stress in life but we can manage our stress levels. Laughter is the stress medicine. Laughter stimulates endorphins (the happy hormones) and oxytocin (the love hormone), and decreases cortisol (the stress hormone) in our blood system. Laughter decreases blood pressure and creates a feeling of security and control. 

Chew gum. Chewing gum reduces muscular tension and anxiety. Walk in the woods. Nature reduces cortisol. I walk in the park at least three times a week. Drink green tea. If you can afford, go for health spa treatments with olive oils. Listen to soft music. Meditate on psalms regularly. Get a pet if possible. Pets lower anxiety. If you’re married, be intimate often. Intimacy activates oxytocin, the love hormone.

Focus on what you can do today. The root cause of stress is being preoccupied with what we cannot change. Jesus said every day has its own trouble and worry does not fix our issues. Put your energy and focus on what you can change today no matter how insignificant that change may look. I’ve hiked several mountains. We conquer a mountain by walking one step at a time.

DR. K. N. JACOB