Much Ado About Something or How to Cope with Stress!

Some of you may be familiar with stress.  It can be tough to manage and can have some serious side effects.  Throughout my life I've developed some great habits and coping strategies that help.  Nonetheless, it's been a challenging year.

It's officially just over the halfway point in 2013 and time to re-assess where I am and where I'm going.  I'm grateful to have good habits and a solid support system.  However, in the last twelve months I've hit 349 points on the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale.  According to the scale that's not good.  The scale is a little like golf; the lower the score, the better the game.  Over 300 = at risk of illness.  I've inserted my assessment below.  You may want to check yours out and assess yourself.  I've also included a Wellness Matrix* I use for myself at the end of the post that you may want to try.  I've found it very helpful to use while navigating through significant change.

I'm coming out of one of the biggest transitions of my life. Over the last two and a half years I've gone from married with two children and a part time career to single, no kids at home, and building a new business. I didn't include those changes in the assessment below.  I conservatively hit a score of 555 over the last three years.

 This will be a more stable year.  It's time to revise my goals while paying attention to the stress factors they involve. Here are my new goals/ stress scores:

1.  Business readjustment	+39
2.  Change in financial state	+38

I plan to continue building my Art and Creative Empowerment business.  I want to help people live more prosperous and creative lives.  Combined stress factor, 77

3.  Outstanding personal achievement

+28

This goes hand in hand with numbers one and two.

4.  Change in social activities

+18

I've focused so hard on work and new business development that I've neglected my social life.  It's time to balance that out!  A lot will come with more contact from the outreach I'm doing with my business.  I'll also spend more time doing the fun things I love, like go to art events, travel, dance, paint (oh, I forgot, that's work!) and play outside...

Must...work...more!

5.  Change in eating habits

+15

My good eating habits have gone downhill with the hyper-focus on learning, travel, and business development.  It's time to rebuild. My exercise routine has been solid and consistent but eating....I've been fooling myself and eating out way too much.  

Target Stress Index:  110

As you can see, even positive change causes stress.  As long as it's managed well that's actually a good thing!

To measure stress according to the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, the number of "Life Change Units" that apply to events in the past year of an individual's life are added and the final score will give a rough estimate of how stress affects health.

Life event	Life change units
Death of a spouse	100
Divorce	73
Marital separation	65
Imprisonment	63
Death of a close family member	63
Personal injury or illness	53                 +53
Marriage	50
Dismissal from work	47
Marital reconciliation	45
Retirement	45
Change in health of family member	44
Pregnancy	40
Sexual difficulties	39
Gain a new family member	39
Business readjustment	39                   +39
Change in financial state	38                   +38
Death of a close friend	37
Change to different line of work	36                   +36
Change in frequency of arguments	35
Major mortgage	32
Foreclosure of mortgage or loan	30
Change in responsibilities at work	29                    +29
Child leaving home	29
Trouble with in-laws	29
Outstanding personal achievement	28
Spouse starts or stops work	26
Begin or end school	26
Change in living conditions	25                    +25
Revision of personal habits	24                    +24
Trouble with boss	23
Change in working hours or conditions	20                     +20
Change in residence	20                     +20
Change in schools	20
Change in recreation	19
Change in church activities	19
Change in social activities	18                     +18
Minor mortgage or loan	17
Change in sleeping habits	16
Change in number of family reunions	15
Change in eating habits	15                    +15
Vacation	13
Christmas	12
Minor violation of law	11

My Score=  349

Score of 300+: At risk of illness.

Score of 150-299: Risk of illness is moderate (reduced by 30% from the above risk).

Score <150: Only have a slight risk of illness.

Successful people have good habits, in the form of rituals, that they incorporate into their daily lives.  Mine are what I call the Fantastic Five.  They are part of the Wellness Matrix* I've identified for keeping me healthy and happy:

1. Eat Well
2. Rest Well
3. Meditate
4. Move
5. Connect with People and Purpose                                                                                        

On any given day I do all or most of the activities in the Wellness Matrix.  When I start to feel a little off, I mentally assess and often find I've missed something consistently for several days.  Not getting enough sleep will throw things off faster than anything else.  I can balance out less sleep with more meditation* and remain healthy and positive, but I can only go for so long without 7 1/2 hours of sleep!  When I don't, I gravitate towards sugar and caffeine.  I also tend to get a little "muffin top" due more to the hormone cortisol than to the poor quality of my food.  I find the puffiness comes even when I stay on top of the cravings.  Once I force myself back into my regular schedule (sleep at 11:00 and up at 6:30) I'm quickly back to my baseline.

You'll have your own needs in each category and will learn what creates balance as you pay attention to your actions and how you feel.  Just a quick journal entry on your calendar will help you figure out what works for you.   

This is simple and it works.  Try it out!  Be well!

* Wellness Matrix copyright 2013, Mary-Gail King
* I studied Primordial Sound Meditation at The Chopra Center for several years and have incorporated that practice into my spiritual life.  While the 21 Day Meditation Challenge is not Primordial Sound Meditation, it's a wonderful guided practice you can register for right now for free!