#FPF – Week 53
Stress.
A word that most of us just accept is always going to accompany certain aspects of our lives (at least until we can reach retirement and find a whole new list of things to fire ourselves up about).
Julie and I spent the long Holiday weekend in North Georgia in a log cabin in the middle of the woods. The cell phones didn’t work and the wifi in the cabin was little to non-existent. We refer to trips like this as “digital detox” and as usual – it was a wonderful break from the day to day craziness that is our professional lives. In that time, we are not stressed, we are calm and relaxed.
It was during this time that I starting thinking about the stress in both of our lives. Neither of us likes letting people down, so naturally, a lot of people tend to depend on us for things. We love it, but it can get a bit nutty sometimes.
Reflecting on these people that depend on us got me thinking: no one wakes up for the morning with the intention of making their day as stressful as possible, it is often the people and the situations around us that inject the stress into our lives. How we as individuals metabolize this injection of stress defines how our days go, and in turn, how we tend to treat others when we are at our breaking point.
Again, let me be clear in saying that Julie and I chose our professions knowing full-well what we were getting into and thrive in stressful environments, but not everyone has the intestinal fortitude for the things we encounter, nor should you if you really don’t have to.
The Unlock
You have the power to control how you handle (most of) the stressors that come your way. When you realize that so much of the stress you endure is as a result of letting others apply it, you begin to approach how you handle situations and interactions differently.
Triage
There is a reason why when you go to the emergency room that you first have to enter triage. This allows those working in the ER to asses what “stressors” (aka people) need to be addressed more promptly – based on the life-threatening nature of their ailments. Everyone in the room believes their issue is the most dire, but it is the role of the triage nurse to make that ultimate determination and systematically empty the room. Starting today, you are the triage nurse. Not everything HAS to get done right now, some things do, but the more items you can keep from piling up in the ER that is your life – the less stressed you will become.
And if all else fails, here’s a shot of Anna Ruby Falls for added serenity:
Thank you for reading this and enjoy your weekend!