STRESS:
1 : constraining force or influence: as a : a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against, or tends to compress or twist another body or body part; especially : the intensity of this mutual force commonly expressed in pounds per square inch b : the deformation caused in a body by such a force c : a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation d : a state resulting from a stress; especially : one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium
Stress is what happens to you when the demands of daily challenges of the outside world are greater than our ability to cope with them.
However stress can also be related to internal factors as well – factors that include how healthy we are, our emotional well-being, what we eat, and how much sleep we are getting.
It’s also strongly dependent on how we interpret what comes our way – that is how we perceive what is happening to us.
People are becoming more and more frenzied! Symptoms of stress are being seen at younger and younger ages. Doctors are describing stress-induced illnesses more and more frequently.
I hear this more and more; “I’m not sleeping, I’m exhausted, I have no energy….” People are plagued with “anxiety, substance abuse, sleep disorders, and withdrawal from life.”
“I’m Stress Out.”
There seems to be a cultural condition that is emerging within our society.
It resembles “post traumatic stress disorder” or PTSD. This disorder usually stems from a catastrophic event – combat, rape, a deadly accident, or a major illness – that leaves its victim in a persistently highly anxious state that leads to disengagement from life, sleep disorders, and substance abuse habits.
Occasionally, PTSD sufferers re-experience the traumatic event or events.
I have come to realize that many people around me; “are living with extreme stress for so long that they do not realize they are stressed.” Layers and layers of stress have weighted on them in increments so small that they don’t eve feel them separately. Stress has become the new “normal.”
This is more than “chronic stress” this “over the top, maxed out, extreme-stress.” Just like “extreme sports” this stressed-out living has become a way of life for many people.
The difficulty is that we were not made to live under this type of stress. It will have devastating effects upon our health and our society.
In the last half of the 20th-century a large majority of our health issues were related to cigarette smoking. In the early years of the 21st-century a large number of our health issues are being connected to fat and obesity. In both cases we see and all-out blitz to get people to change their habits.
Both smoking and obesity can be easily diagnosed, when you see it you know it. However, stress has no face, and yet it is just as deadly as the other two.
Any doctor –will tell you the same thing, if you are continually stressed and you don’t deal with it: it can kill you.
Cell phones, hand-held computers, twittering… we are on call and open to intrusion 24/7. 40% of teens said they could not live without their cell phones, and yet the same study reported that after 3 days of being without the cell phone these teens were less stressed, had lower heart rates and blood pressure.
Today “noise pollution” is everywhere. The blasting music in the car next to you, trying to have a quiet lunch while the person next to you is arguing with her boyfriend on her cell phone, the whole world has become a “phone booth.”
We are being blitzed with sensory stimulation every where we turn, our nervous systems are continually aroused to sight and sound. Stepped-up commercial volume, MTV videos, are ever reaching for our attention.
TV’s are everywhere, the coffee shop, airport, taxicabs, dentist’s office waiting room, it goes on and on.
Then there are computers, facebook, twitter, etc….
Our food sources have changed.
Our sleep habits are being eroded.
Our job satisfaction is being erased.
I went to get a sandwich the other day the young lady took my order, made my sandwhich, put it in the bag, took my money, handed me the bag, gave me change and never looked up.
We are deluding ourselves; we can not indefinitely endure the MACRO STRESSES that accompany; impersonal encounters, less sleep, more work, less leisure, bad marriages’ less exercise, junk food, hyper-caffeinated sugar-saturated drinks, screen-junkies, traffic jams, flight delays and so much more and come away healthy…..
We as a species can handle short-term stress and to some degree some fairly long term stress, but all stress, all the time was not the way we were designed.
Stress has become the new “pandemic.” It is a deadly health crisis.
“Extreme – Macro – Stress”
Anything that triggers stress is called a “stressor.” There are several easily recognized stressors:
1) Environmental
a. Such as noise pollution, or living in a crime-ridden neighborhood where you never feel safe.
2) Occupational
a. Dissatifaction, overwork, disagreements, low pay, nasty co-workers.
3) Relational
a. Fight with a friend, problems with partners, children, loss of spouse
4) Social
a. Trying to keep up with joneses
5) Spiritual
a. Lost of purpose in life, loss of community, loss of control, loss of meaning…
However, FEAR, is one of the all time greatest stressors; fear of failure, not having enough, not being enough, losing what you have, fear of success. These fears are very real to those who are experiencing them.
There is a huge difference between “acute” and “chronic” stress.
Acute is what moves you out of the way of a moving car. When you climb a set of stairs the extra effort for your heart and legs produces stress what is called a “allostasis” release.
However, the journey from “allostasis” to “allostatic load” often destabilizes our lives.
1) When multiple stressors lead to elevated stress hormones that continue over a long period of time.
2) When you can’t seem to adapt to a stressor even though it repeats itself again and again. (public speaking)
3) When your body turns on the stress hormones and doesn’t turn them off after the stressor has gone. (keep replaying the event in your own mind over and over)
Our society has increased chronic stressors to assault proportions and we are left dealing with the fall out.
Rather than a gnat that is flying around our heads we have a bull horn going off in our ears.
This accumulated chronic stress is what I am referring to as: EXTREME-MACRO-STRESS!
Anxiety is the new normal!
Now what?
1) Choose to Change
a. You can change in an ACTIVE way by finding tools that work for you.
b. You can also change the way you PERCEIVE the challenges you are faced with.
2) Commit to doing what it takes to change.
a. Just as you became “EXTREMELY STRESSED” through a series of small hits, you can reverse the process by taking a series of small steps toward wellness.
b. Change one little thing—and in a week, you’ll notice a difference in the way you feel. You’ll have the courage then to take the next, bigger step.
3) Admit that you may encounter some unpleasant things along the way.
a. Not every decision we have made, (choices) were conscious rational ones. Sometimes there are underlying subconscious reasons that cause us to chose or make decisions.
b. Sometimes revisiting the choices we’ve made can be painful, but necessary.
4) Trust that you will get to a better place.
a. Faith!
HOW DOES CHANGE OCCUR?
First of all lots of people want to change, they have tried, and tried and tried. The issue is not whether or not we want to change or if we have tried or not. But the real issue is “training.”
TRANSFORMATION HAPPENS THROUGH TRAINING OF THE SOUL.
First of all there is a false narrative that change happens due to “willpower.”
Truthfully, change does not happen because we muster up the “willpower” but it happens by “changing our mind.”
I believe there is a reliable method to changing our hearts:
1) changing the stories we tell ourselves in our mind
2) engaging in new practices (disciplines)
3) by reflecting and dialoguing with other who are on the same journey (community)
4) all under the leadership under the Holy Spirit
TRANSFORMATION: THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Gal. 5:22 ¶ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal. 5:23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
We will never become patient because we grit our teeth … Like the fruit on a tree it comes from the inside out…
When the Holy Spirit has changed or corrected our stories we will begin to think differently….
“What we think about God is the most important thing in our lives”
As a result we begin to believe in and trust a good and loving God who has adopted us.
The Journey to Joy!
This is the first secret to overcoming “extreme-stress”!
Neh. 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
John 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
John 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
John 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
JOY 1 a : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b : the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety
DELIGHT 1 : a high degree of gratification : joy; also : extreme satisfaction
2 : something that gives great pleasure
Psa. 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Science of the West has lead us to believe in this split between mind and body. It is commonly known as the Cartesian split.
Joy is the very source of our strength and it must come into our Spirit.
Gal. 5:22 ¶ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal. 5:23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Joy…. Is not based on “happenstance” but the knowing of ones “connectedness” to The Father.
John 15:9 ¶ “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
John 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
John 15:11 ¶ “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE LOVED…. PRODUCES JOY!
THIS IS A SPIRITUAL – INNER REALITY THAT HAS A PHYSCIAL EFFECT ON YOU….
“placebo effect” during WWII Dr. Beecher ran out of narcotics to give to his patients so he substituted, sugar and water, 35% got better.
The power of suggestion.
The Mind…. What you think has an effect on your body.
Change the state of your mind… your thinking and you will have different feelings!
Prov. 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
3John 2 ¶ Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
YOUR SOUL WILL PROSPER WHEN IT KNOWS IT IS LOVED.
However our ability to know and comprehend is diminished with the lost of sleep.The number one enemy of Christian spiritual formation or transformation is exhaustion. We are living beyond our own ability… or means!
More people are killed every year by drowsy drivers than drunk drivers.
We are “sleepy.”
We need more ‘REST’!
What does this have to do with Christian Spirituality? Or Extreme Stress?
The human person is not merely a soul who is housed in a body. Our bodies and our souls are unified. If our bodies suffer, so do our souls. We cannot neglect the body in pursuit of spiritual growth. In fact, neglecting our bodies will impede our spiritual health and growth. If our bodies are not sufficiently rested, our energies, will be diminished and our ability to pray, read, enter into solitude will be minimized.
Rom. 12:1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom. 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
SLEEP IS AN ACT OF SURRENDER! IT IS A DECLARATION OF TRUST. IT IS ADMITTING THAT WE ARE NOT GOD WHO NEVER SLEEPS NOR SLUMBERS.
THE DISCIPLINE OF SLEEP!!!!
1) Go to sleep at a consistent time every night
2) Don’t engage in activities that increase stress right before bedtime. (TV, or Computer)
3) Be careful with stimulants (caffeine, spicy foods) in the evening.
4) Do not force yourself to sleep… read, mediate, music, etc
5) If you awaken in the middle of the night, you do not have to get up immediately …. Give your body a chance to go back to sleep.
STRESS – RELAX:
Psa. 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
(read the entire psalm)
RELAXATION:
RELAX:
1 : to make less tense or rigid : slacken
intransitive verb
1 : to become lax, weak, or loose : rest
2 : to become less intense or severe
Dr. Benson of Harvard; through the simple act of changing thought patterns heart and blood pressure rates dropped. “Relaxation Response”
Extreme-Macro-Stressed People ; state they never believe they’re good enough, always trying to reach a destination…. Thus they are exhausted.
USE SOME TOOLS….
Through the day… stress will arise! It will increase! So determine in advance how you might be able to manage stress.
1) Do you know how it feels to Relax? To Rest?
a. Your subconscious mind will remember
b. It will be triggered
2) 12 minutes of mediation a day for 8 weeks has proven to have great results.
Psa. 1:1 ¶ Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
Psa. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psa. 1:3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
Phil. 4:8 ¶ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
1Tim. 4:15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.
intransitive verb
1 : to engage in contemplation or reflection
2 : to engage in mental exercise (as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness
transitive verb
1 : to focus one’s thoughts on : reflect on or ponder over
2 : to plan or project in the mind : intend, purpose
TO CHOSE ONE’S THOUGHTS…. INTENTIONALLY FOCUS ON WHAT ONE THINKS….
THIS IS “SOUL TRAINING” = “MEDITATION”
Col. 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
1) It probably won’t be very deep the first few times
2) Don’t get hung up on having enough time
3) Don’t worry about getting it wrong
GET SOME GOOD AFFIRMATION TO SAY TO YOURSELF
FOCUS ON BREATHING
SOME HINTS:
1) A quiet place and sit comfortably.
2) Progressively relax your muscles
3) Think about one of God’s virtues, love, joy, etc.
4) Breathe
5) Let His Peace fill you on the inside
FINALLY:
PLAY…. Get outside your daily routine and see things from a different perspective.
a. go for a walk
b. give a friend a call
c. write a quick note
