The world itself is full of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Living and surviving in this space is not that of any weak man, at times you have to pull through dedicated odds. Right from when we were born even though some would say that did not partake in that decision to be born, well here we are. From birth, no one told us that the world will same be the same as we grew up. The serial and enviable pampering babes receive will not go on forever. We just have to grow per time.
Recently, I heard about a song where the main theme was about the fact that adulthood is a scam. Basically, as I said above, no one told us it will be this hard, stressful, etc. Although I know it was not always that condescending, that is, there are some silver linings in the cloud at times. And at some point, we got to realize that we have to fend for ourselves most times.
In our everyday life, we have goals or targets to hit. Goals here are not always the huge life achievement ones or the amount of Hive Power you‘d love to have at the end of the year. Something as simple as getting our respective daily bread is one goal we unconsciously pursue. This is because it is seen as a norm in our very world but it is one thing that the majority engage in.
In the pursuit of these, things can get overwhelming at times. These are the times when you will just want to give up those wonderful dreams. Or perhaps it looks as though you are the only one facing struggles in your ways. We have seen how some employees get used up energy-wise due to the intensity of their work. In my society, the same applies to students who wake up early for school, get engaged in not-so-good learning conditions, get home late, try to read, and still get up early the next day. Those activities are not the only things happening to an average person (or student) per day.
Humans, as we are wired, have Irritability which is the ability to adapt. Yes, we truly possess this. But to every change, there is always an elastic limit - the point to which our body adaptation can work. If the undue changes are not watched and addressed well, it results in an accumulation of stress and subsequent breakdown!
In response to these changes, or better still stress, we all have our coping mechanisms, that is, how each of us reacts and addresses stress. For me, the following are some of the things I do:
Take Some Time Off
Most times, this is not something I do willingly. What happens when I feel stressed out or down over time, the urge to work or do something tangible just leaves me, so I do no work and just lie on my bed perhaps. When I start to feel this way, which could be interpreted as burnout, what I do first is just obey the zeal to do nothing. Take the time off. During this time is where I sleep more often such that when I wake up, my body is more energized than before.
Listen To Music
Listening to sweet music is one key I use to unwind during times like this. I am someone who has different genres of music I listen to per time as there are different ones for different situations. In order to ease tensions, I listen to songs mostly romantic and traditional ones. In other cases, I listen to audio sermons too.
Engage My Close Friends
I have friends who are closer to me than others. They are the ones I ensure to call, even if we had spoken some days before. And when I do, I tell them how I feel exactly like I am trying to offload the burdens on my heart. I know these guys well such that I know when I tell my whole story, they are always reading to hear them and dish out the necessary healing needed for me.
Nature
Nature has huge healing potential. From the idea of taking time off from what I may have been doing that resulted in the stress, I take out time to go out and stare at the horizon and natural entities around. My home is situated on what seems like a hill so I could see the roofs of houses and forests that meet the horizon. At other times, I go visit my friends and neighbors around. Or I just stroll down the streets and back home.
These and many more are the ways I cope with stress. And they do not disappoint me at all. One key thing to note is the fact that we must know that these times will always happen. They can never be eliminated completely from the life of a normal human being. Hence, it is no death sentence!