I’ll bet there is not a person reading this who has not felt stress in the past week. Stress is a fact of life, and creeps up on us on a regular basis. I would like to take a moment to look at things a bit differently, and encourage you to find some humour in those things that typically cause you stress.

A Zen like mind sees that there are two sides to every coin. If we look at things that stress us, there are two possible ways to see the situation: one which can cause us great stress, and another which may help us be more open minded and accepting of the situation. I call this way of thinking “Mind Over Matter”, because if you don’t mind, many things really don’t matter.

For example, you get into your car for the morning ride to work. You are in a rush, your petal is to the metal, someone cuts you off, you hit every red light and through all of this your blood pressure is rising, your self-talk is negative, and you are convinced that it is going to be one of those days. You are definitely making choices to be more stressed than you have to be. The next day, you make a conscious decision to be relaxed, take things as they come, and create a great day. You get into your car for the morning ride to work, you are in a rush, but you are driving at a safe and relaxed pace. Someone tries to cut in front of you and you slow down to let them in. You enjoy the stops at the red lights to just relax and take in the wonders around you, your self-talk is positive and grateful, and you make it to work in a great frame of mind, and probably at the same time as the person with their petal to the metal who is all stressed out!

In the example above, you can see that these are choices that we make for ourselves – choosing to be up-tight about the morning ride to work, or choosing to be relaxed and positive about the day’s potential.

Are we over reacting in life? Are we allowing stress to get the better of us? Looking at things from a different perspective can definitely reduce our stress levels. Furthermore, learning to laugh at ourselves can help us transition from stressed to acceptance.

How about keeping life simpler? Could that help your stress level? This is a perfect time of year for an example of maintaining simplicity in our lives. With the holiday season fast approaching, many people choose to take on added tasks of shopping, baking, cleaning, social events and preparation of all types, while we continue to juggle regular home and work tasks. The result is stress, fatigue, and disappointment.

How many people wander around the mall trying to find the perfect gift for someone who already has everything, spending money to buy material things that are nice to have but not necessities (perhaps accumulating debt in the process), spending time wrapping gifts and preparing for a holiday celebration, only to find that they are too tired to enjoy the celebration or too pressed for time to make it to church?

We are trying to maintain all of the traditions of our past, with the fast pace of our current lifestyles, and we just don’t have the time or resources to make it all happen. What if we kept holiday celebrations simpler? What if we looked deep into our values to determine the purpose of the holidays, and made sure that we celebrated the important reasons for them, then considered everything else optional? For example, if you are celebrating Christmas, the birth of Christ, then the most important values might be to participate in the religious ceremonies, and to be with family members. The magnitude of time and energy used for gifts, food, baking, and a clean house to celebrate in, are all secondary to the purpose of the holiday, and can be done as optional tasks if you decide to spend energy on them.

“When we change the way we look at things,

the things we look at change”.

Hopefully you can find humour in your stress, and learn to look at things differently. We can choose not to over react, and to keep life simpler. If we keep life simpler, we will have more time and energy to enjoy the things that really matter most in our lives. I hope you can find some humour in the way you might get all worked up at this time of year preparing for the holidays, and that you can make some changes to keep life simple, so you are able to enjoy what really matters most to you.

Best wishes for a happy holiday season, and a humorous, less stressful New Year.

~ Penny Tremblay