Stress in This Day and Age

We live in a paradoxical time: Our world keeps getting safer, while we keep getting more stressed. Yes, our statistical chances of dying prematurely may have fallen through the floor, but our surroundings seem more threatening than ever.

How so? Well, our natural stress response is great at identifying threats, but it sucks at judging their likelihood and severity. Thus, every little molehill in our way looks like a mountain (and our ways are littered with molehills).

Navigating life between all these mountainous molehills is no easy task. That’s the problem we tackle in this week’s post. So, without further ado, here’s a nice summary of the proposed 3-tier stress-reduction strategy:

In the near term, the trick is to calm our primitive fight-or-flight response every time it overblows a threat. Four good options are movement, talking or journaling, healthy pleasures, and breathing.

With a clearer mind, we can then proceed to some more strategic medium-term measures:

Finally, let’s implement some long-term strategies to minimize future stress:

So, there you have it. Use short-term measures to make room for medium-term responses that facilitate long-term stress-reduction strategies. An upgraded relationship with stress is your ticket to rightfully enjoying the safest and most interesting time in human history.

Have an HHWPS weekend!

Schalk

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