Five Ways to Stay Positive During High Stress

Life is busy. Oftentimes, it feels like you’re jumping from one thing to the next. With a hectic schedule, sometimes staying positive can be a challenge.  However, what makes all the difference is how we respond to the stress life brings. You can let stress create a snowball effect, ruining your whole day until you hit the pillow or you can fight to remain positive in the face of stress. Try these five tips to stay positive when stress is banging at your door. 

Remain Calm

This sounds easier said than done. However, when a stressful situations presents itself you always will have a choice. Let it weigh you down or work on finding a solution to minimize the stressor. Stress will always enter our lives. Sometimes people fill their minds with thoughts such as “Why do bad things happen to me?,” or defeating thoughts such as “I have no idea what I’m going to do.”

Don’t make a bad situation worse by convincing yourself you cannot handle it. Take a step back and consider what advice you would give a loved one with the same problem. Maybe Try and consider all options while reminding yourself it is going to be okay and that you can handle whatever it is that comes your way. Soothing yourself in this way will help you remain focused and goal-oriented.

Lean On Others

Are you keeping all of your stress to yourself because you don’t want to bother anyone? This makes it difficult for your loved ones to understand your behavior and really get to know the real you. They likely wouldn’t be in your life if they didn’t care about you. I’m not saying used our loved ones as your therapist. But, opening up to those around you will make them feel closer to you.

They may also have some good advice for handling what stresses you because they know you best. If this is not enough and your stress becomes daily stress, you should highly consider speaking to a mental health professional. 

Take It One Step At A Time

If you try to handle everything at once you will either do nothing or do everything poorly. Your list of responsibilities isn’t going anywhere and that’s okay. Tackle each item one at a time so that all of your energy can be put into it to optimize a successful outcome. This is also called doing things one-mindfully.

All this means if focus on the present. Control your attention toward one task, push away other thoughts that will get in the way of finishing this one task, and see it through to its completion. Now you can move forward toward the next task.

Exude Positivity For Others

It may seem strange to consider being positive for others and not yourself. Actually, the more you can work on being positive around others, the easier it is for them to reciprocate. This in turn makes you feel good and helps you see yourself in a more positive light.

The positivity you give to others can be as simple as saying hello or holding a door for others. This will likely cause a chain reaction. The more positive you feel the less weighed down you are and it becomes more likely you will have an all around good day.

Take A Moment To Pause

Sometimes stress is so high we wish we could just run away. Welp, permission to run away granted. If you are so overwhelmed that you feel your mind is too jumbled to get anything done, don’t fight it. This is a clear sign that you need to drop everything and take a break.

Taking just a 10-15 minute break doing whatever makes you feel calm can help you feel positive and replenished for the rest of the day. You make the rules and sometimes doing nothing is actually doing something. Pausing through the day can help reset your mind and body. Pausing can also help stress from building up and potentially avoiding confrontation with others. 

Here are some suggestions for what you can do during your moment to pause:

Be mindful – be more aware of the present moment, including your thoughts and feelings, your body and the world around you. This type of present centered awareness is called “mindfulness”. No matter how many times you have to redirect your mind to the here and now, take a deep relaxing breath and do it without judging yourself. It can positively change the way you feel about your current state of mind and how you approach challenges.

Go for a Walk– This is especially helpful if you feel stressed at work because you cant exactly get up from your desk and start doing tai  chi. Get some fresh air and only allow your mind to focus on something you’re looking forward to. Put the technology away while your at it. Sometimes I put my phone in and my headphones on a relaxing walk but I do not turn on anything. This helps others see you occupied and keeps your space your space when you really need it. 

Exercise– Sometimes the opposite of slowing tings down when your stressed is to speed things up. Do something that gets your heart rate going so you release those happy hormones such as dopamine and endorphins. Go ahead and push your body to the limit. You will feel like you conquered something and can take on even more. 

Watch Something Funny– Can’t seem to find your happy place from inward? Actors painstakingly create shows and movies to make you laugh and entertain you. Put on your favorite show or movie and escape into your happy place.

If you’re not into this sort of thing go to youtube.com and type in cute babies or animals you want to see. Whatever gets a good chuckle going.  Whatever method you try, approach each one with a sense of  confidence in yourself that it will work. That’s how you remain positive in times of high stress and fight the good fight against stress!