Altering The Unavoidable

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Markus Wilcox, One of Thousands of Christian Coaches on Noomii.

As stated previously, there are many situations in life that cause stress that we cannot avoid. This is just a fact of living responsibly – unless you manage to pad your life with millions of dollars and are superbly able to disassociate, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to avoid every single stressful situation that could possibly pop up.

While stress is no doubt a fact of life, there are steps you can take to deal with it in a healthy and productive manner. One of the most effective ways to deal with stress is to attempt to alter the situation – just because the environment that you have to deal with is less than favorable does not mean that you are a powerless entity inside of it. There are plenty of things you can do to shift the elements in a stressful situation to help you cope better and feel less stressed.

Try to compromise. In the event that your stress is coming from the behavior of somebody else, it can often help to engage him or her in a frank and firm discussion about why you find the situation so stressful. You might be surprised at what you learn about the other person, as well. The trick is that if you decide to tackle your stress head on by opening a dialogue, you need to listen to the other person as well as you are expecting them to listen to you. Then, you need to come to an agreement with the other person regarding what steps need to be taken to lessen the stress on everybody involved. Compromise is the key to success!
Be assertive! If you are in a situation that you find unfavorable, don’t just sit back and hope that it ends soon. Many people find that they experience less stress and lead happier lives when they take control of their situations that cause them stress and meet the challenges that life throws them head on. Do your best to anticipate potential problems and take steps to mitigate the problem before it becomes a major stress-causer. Tell people if you are unhappy. Be empowered!

Express your feelings. If a certain person or situation stresses you out, say so. Most people are not mind readers, and many might not be aware that you are feeling stressed. This doesn’t mean that a tantrum is the best way to solve your problems, but expressing that you are unhappy and would like to find a better way to deal with certain situations might be taken better than you’d initially expect.
Manage your time and assets better. Planning will do more for you than you ever thought possible. Don’t wait until the last minute to do things – this just causes stress to build. If you are having financial problems, sit down, make a budget, and stick to it. Planning ahead for potential issues that can trigger stress is a great way to help lessen the impact that stress can have on your life and alter situations that might otherwise be extremely painful.