Are you stressed out?
At this age and time aren’t we all stressed? It might not be all the time. But we definitely stress about something at least once every day. Unfortunately, studies showed that 8/10 Americans are stressed out 35% to 44% of their day daily. Now, are you also going to stress about how to deal with your existing stress? Most of us don’t even get the chance to process how and why we are stressed or overwhelmed. We might blame the new project or the annoying ex. But sometimes it’s deeper than that. Sometimes you might not even notice your situation until you have a whole mental breakdown.
How many times did you cry or scream out of stress this week? Did you ever cry while wondering why are you even crying? It is because of all those unprocessed thoughts and worries that you didn’t even get a chance to confront. In this busy world, it is difficult to come up with proper “me time” every day. But the truth is, you need to have some kind of “me time” EVERY SINGLE DAY. Even if you are just reading a book, or staring out the window, or working out, every second of that is helping your mental health.
There are lots of activities online that you can search for about coping with stress. But an easy way is, confronting what is bothering you. So how do you do it?
Most of the time we are frustrated because we don’t know the real cause behind our stress. We often misinterpret our feelings. Are you good at writing journals? Well, for this quick little activity, you don’t have to be! Unlock that phone in your hand. Open your notes and just start typing. Type like you are venting to your best friend. Just keep typing without thinking. Pour out all your feelings. Mention every single feeling, even the smallest ones, hiding at the back of your mind. WRITE WITHOUT THINKING. Don’t put any thoughts on any of the words. Leave those typos and wrong spacings. Once you are done writing, which is whenever your mind goes blank, stop and take 5 minutes. Go get a glass of water. Now sit back and read the entire thing that you just wrote.
The problem is, we always think too much. Even when we are trying to process our feelings, we don’t let them come out without thinking about them and judging them. Even when we are texting someone close to us, on some level, subconsciously we hold back a little. When we write our journal, we think about our feelings and incidents that happened before writing each sentence. But the whole purpose of this activity is to NOT THINK. Let your subconscious mind talk to you instead of trying to talk for it. Once you go back to the writing and read it carefully, you will notice things that played a part in your meltdown that you didn’t even know bothered you. It could be a really small thing. But every little thing comes together and becomes a burden on your precious mind. So, don’t risk having small problems attacking you later.
Writing might not be your favorite thing. But give this activity a try. It might not work on the first try because you might still be thinking before writing. It is a habit that we are taught since kindergarten. But with practice, you will be able to communicate with yourself in a better and more honest way through this little exercise!