Every so often you’ll hear a person talk about trying to “eliminate” stress from his life. Is that possible? I don’t really think so. Stress is a part of life. It can, in fact, be a good part of life, though you may not feel that way while you’re under pressure. Physiological speaking, the right amount of stress can make our mind sharp and help us to respond to change of situation more quickly. Without going into detail how the brain works, just say that it has to do with adrenaline that floods the bloodstream, increasing our alertness and performance. When the stressful situation passed, we have a chance to rest and everything return to normalcy. Normal stress cycle is nothing unhealthy about it.

The problem occurs when there are too many stressful situations in our lives. That’s the time when our bodies are not given a chance to get through the resting cycle. Our bodies are like “rubber-bands.” When stretched, it will return to its original elastic form (of course, unless it’s too old), and ready to be stretched again. But when the body is over-stretched for a long period of time, it will not be able to return to its original form. Therefore, we need to learn how to manage stress.

 

The Bible tells us that we have three components—spirit, soul and body—all intertwined, and each affecting the others. Simply put, the Spirit is used to interact with God; the Soul is our emotion and is also used to interact with others; and our body is the physical component. To manage stress well, we need to have adequate rests. The best way to “rest” the spirit is to be at God’s presence. True, we probably can’t spend a lot of time during a given day to meditate the Twenty-third Psalm, but encountering God every day will enhance a healthy spiritual life which is the foundation of the totality of mental health. In order to “rest” our soul, we probably need to change our philosophy of life. One way that may help us is to be more positive, more up-beat. Look for the good things rather than the negative things. The Bible says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” When we don’t have good mental health, it will affect our relationship with God and with others, and will also cause physical health to deteriorate. Finally, have adequate rest, exercise, and a good diet. Practice self-control, especially with our diet. What we put in our mouth may not always benefit our health.

 

Pastor Larry