Are You Healthily Stimulated by Stress or Conditioned to Distress and Depletion?

November 1, 2020 12:00 am Published by creativedirection

Stress is a word very frequently used in all sorts of contexts. What it means varies greatly from one person to the next. There’s physical, emotional, mental and spiritual stress, we’ve all heard that right? We’ve all heard of “distress” too and realise there’s a considerable difference between stress and distress: stress as a stimulus isn’t in itself harmful, distress however particularly when it is protracted, depletes us on all levels, leaving us vulnerable to illness of all kinds, exhausted, miserable, anxious or depressed.

However, in this huge and quite personal subject, there is I believe a definite bottom line. Below are a few questions. Most people who enjoy good health will answer yes to them and there is scientific evidence to support that they are key indicators in health, wellbeing and happiness. All too often we become conditioned to our daily reality; something being commonplace or “normal” doesn’t make it positive or healthy, it also doesn’t mean it can’t be changed for the better.

Bottom line questions to ask yourself…

Do you feel happy or content most of the time?
Do you generally sleep well and wake rested and refreshed?
Do you eat (mostly non-processed) foods at regular intervals and drink at least 1.5 litres of water daily?
Do you go outside daily for at least a 20 minute walk, even after dark and get away from all tech? (phone off!)
Do you feel your life has purpose?
Does your life have variety? – people you talk to, places you go, things you do that are sedentary and things that actively engage and challenge your body and mind in a completely different way?
Have you tried anything new in the last month? A food or recipe, an activity, learned a new skill or made a change to your usual routine?

If you’ve answered no more often than yes to these questions then read on!