Is There Life After Stress?

What is Stress?

Stress is how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened. Distress occurs when stress is severe, prolonged, or both. Distress is stress that negatively affects you and Eustress is stress that has a positive effect on you.

Good Stress and Bad Stress

Examples of negative personal stressors include a lot of events in our lives. Some common example are the death of a spouse, filing for divorce, losing contact with loved ones, the death of a family member, hospitalization (oneself or a family member), injury or illness (oneself or a family member), being abused or neglected, separation from a spouse or committed relationship partner, conflict in interpersonal relationships, bankruptcy/Money Problems, unemployment, sleep problems, children's problems at school and legal problems.

Examples of positive personal stressors include: Receiving a promotion or raise at work.Starting a new job.Marriage.Buying a home. Having a child.Moving.Taking a vacation.Holiday. Reasons.Retiring.Taking educational classes or learning a new hobby. Some stresses are caused by internal thoughts and emotions. Fears: (e.g., fears of flying, heights, public speaking, chatting with strangers at a party). Repetitive Thought Patterns.Worrying about future events (e.g., waiting for medical test results or job restructuring).Unrealistic, perfectionist, expectations. Habitual behavior patterns that can lead to distress include:Overscheduling.Failing to be assertive. Procrastination and/or failing to plan ahead.

In other words, stress is part of life. Without stress, there is no life.

Chuck Swindoll tells about a man who went to see a psychiatrist because he was extremely stressed. The psychiatrist just could not give him any specific advice, because his problems were endless. So he said to the man, “Tonight I want you to go to the circus in town because they have a clown named the Great Rinaldi, he is the funniest clown I have ever seen. Whenever I go to see the Great Rinaldi he always lifts my spirits and feel relaxed.” The man responded. “You don’t understand doctor, I am the Great Rinaldi."

No one is immune to stress. Stress is no respecter or persons.

Whether it is a burdensome responsibility, or a difficult marriage, whether it is joblessness, or a deep loneliness, whether it is a painful sickness or grief of separation, each of us here has faced stress one way or other, or will face some or all of these. There is no question about it. Even the little baby born in to this world is stressed out from the beginning. We live in a stressful world, turbulent with challenges and troubles on our path of life.

So we must learn to how to live productively with stress or else, we will be pulled apart in pieces.

People practice yoga to stretch out your body, slow down your breathing, and relax your mind. They say Yoga can help you feel calmer when life is busy and stressful. Squeezing Stress balls have been around for a long time. There is a new toy in the market called "fidget" toys. Amazon rankings: a recent search revealed that forty-nine of the fifty best-selling toys were either fidget spinners or fidget cubes. Another report claims that the rise in need of the fidget spinner, might mean a lot in the age of covid.

Abraham and Sarah

Someone said, “most of our stresses are about wanting something that we do not have or about having something we do not want.” There are many other examples like David, Paul and Jesus. Abraham (Abram), the father of all believers is an example in the scripture that stands out how he handled stress. (Genesis 21). Abram and Sarai did not have a child after marriage. Sarai wanted a child badly and it was stressing them both and their faith for a long time. So Sarai devices a plan to have a baby through another woman by name Hagar, a servant girl. There were issues between Sarai and Hagar that added to the stress. Ishmael was born in Hagar. Later on Sarai now renamed Sarah who gave birth to the promised son Isaac. Now they have two sons to deal with and the stress multiplied when the two sons could not get along.

"The child (Isaac) grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” 11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring[a] will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” 14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba." (Genesis 21:8-14).