Stress is
common to all persons. My previous post
explained how those in the business of helping others can be at greater risk to
miss signs of too much stress leading to disastrous results. Below I share some
ways to alleviate the negative effects of stress in life and leadership
activities.
Again I
refer to information provided by Dr. Eric Scalise from a seminar with the
American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC). His 15 principles of self care (presented in a webinar in January
2014) are shared below.
1. Don't take your identity from your
work: Who you are as a person is not
defined by what you do as a professional or valunteer. For the Christian reading this, you are
first a child of God. Your sonship or daughtership
is the most important thing about your being. It defines who you are and your
purpose for being and doing.
2. Learn what it means to have joy: Happiness is based on mood, while joy is
intentionally made. Joy is produced by
cultivating a grateful heart. Finding
things for which to be thankful, in the midst of difficult circumstances,
produces the fruit of joy.
3. Learn to de-personalize the process, and
limit your time around negative people:
Intentionally spend time around healthy people. Consider your limitations for handling
negativity. No matter how spiritual we
wish to be, our humanity cannot be ignored.
4. Rest because God created rest: Sabbath rest may mean something different
to you than other people. Discover the
difference between things that drain you and things that energize you and spend
appropriate time replenishing your strength.
5. Sleep:
Recent research shows how sleep literally can regenerate your
brain. Depriving your body of enough
sleep wears it down more quickly.
Consuming caffeine before
bedtime severely compounds the problem of too few sleep cycles per night.
6. Diet and exercise: What you consume becomes what your body is made of. Consume nourishing foods and your body is
nourished. Consume junk, and your body
becomes junk. Your body needs lots of
water. Drink water even when you're not
thirsty.
7. Learn to be silent and still: Extended reflection and contemplation time
is one of the most valuable yet least practiced activities of the day. Luke 5:15-16 and other accounts show the
example of Jesus in intentionally limiting ministry time.
8. Create outlets to avoid stagnation: Nothing can live in the Dead Sea because it
has no water flowing out of it. Our
spirit needs a life-giving flow out as well as a life-receiving flow in.
9. Seek to give your burdens to God every
day: 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast your
cares upon him ..." In Matthew
11:29-30 Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me
..." We should ask ourselves
regularly, "Am I carrying a burden I should be giving to the
Lord?" Or, "Am I carrying
someone's burden (for them) that I should be letting them give to
the Lord?"
10. Learn to "triage" your daily
events: Not everything that is urgent
is important, and not everything that seems important to others, is urgent for
you. Set priorities and stick to
them. Let others do things, especially
things they can do more efficiently than you.
11. Learn to have realistic expectations: It's not about you (whatever it
is). Life's meaning is found in
pursuing God's design and purposes.
People you work with are at differing degrees of knowledge and
motivation in that pursuit.
12. Seek to resolve those things that can be
accomplished quickly and easily:
Especially when you're stuck, don't work on the 20% of the more
difficult tasks on your to-do list.
Fast and simple progress can help create inertia.
13. Learn to manage your time by saying
"no": Set boundaries for
yourself. Don't get pulled into other
people setting your boundaries for you.
There will always be people that have "important" things for
you to do.
14. Learn to delegate to others whenever and
wherever possible: Someone has said,
"Cemeteries are full of indispensable people."
15. Find one or two key people to whom you can
be accountable: Be completely honest,
vulnerable, and transparent with someone close. Isolation is the number one enemy strategy to take out a
leader.
Let
me encourage you to take some reflection time to take an honest and hard look
at these qualities in yourself. Ask
someone close to you how they see your ability to achieve these things. Most importantly, spend some time in prayer
and listening to God for His direction in how to respond. What is the specific item(s) God may want
you to focus on right now at this point in your life? What specific action steps will you take to pursue the change
needed to be where you believe God would want you to be in a week? month?
year?
Take
care, to be all that God made you to be!
Note: The book Escaping the Pain of Offense: Empowered to Forgive
from the Heart discusses themes of dealing with disappointments, offense
and finding freedom in forgiveness.
This book is designed to help people (especially in the Christian
faith) to discover and dislodge things
in life that lead to defeat. Don't miss out on your chance to use this book as
a helpful tool in discovering Refuge in Christ. It can be purchased by clicking
here: http://bluerockbnb.com/healing/book_main.htm . If you get anywhere near
Pennsylvania for vacation or on business, be sure to look us up for lodging
at http://bluerockbnb.com
by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry
