Mental/Emotional Stress

A simple fact of life is - If you are alive, you have Worries. Everyone worries about certain aspects of life to some extent. Some worry about their jobs, education or career path. Others may worry about their financial situation. Relationships with others, both social and family, can be the source of a lot of worries. Also, many people worry about their own health or the overall health of a loved one.

Even though it appears that there are many forms or sources of mental angst, this type of stress can actually be narrowed down to only two main categories: Worrying about the past or worrying about the future (or some combo of the two).

Many people spend a large amount of time thinking about past experiences that were unpleasant. Any thought of a person who you have had an unresolved argument or disagreement with can bring to the surface old emotions. Memories of being wronged by another, a traumatic experience, accident or other event that led to an undesirable outcome, are all examples of worrying about the past.

On the other hand, a lot of people find themselves worrying more about what their future holds. How will you pay the bills? Is this traffic going to make you late? What will your health be like as you age? When will success arrive? Who is your Mr./Mrs. Right & when will you meet? What will retirement be like? Imagining future events, even the very near future, can turn to worry & be quite stressful on our systems.

Here is how it works: In our minds, time does not exist. Our mind does not know the difference between an actual experience and a visualized experience. The same physiological changes and emotions will be created by the incident itself or by the memory of the same occurrence. Of course this applies to imagining future events as well. If you visualize how you think an upcoming event may unfold, your body & mind will respond as if you actually experienced it.

Later, we will discuss, in detail, a few easy techniques to keep our minds focused either on the present (the now), the good things in life or how to always expect the best.