An antidote to stress and pressure? Seek out more.

Know thyself, or so the saying goes.

To understand what makes us tick, to figure out what works and what doesn’t comes with the passing of time and the gaining of experience. One such lesson is in coping through times of stress, pressure and adversity.

By all reasonable measures I’ve got it easy. What possible cause have I to feel stress?

I wake in a comfy bed, usually to the sound of birdsong outside rather than gunshots or sirens. There’s always food in the refrigerator and we have clothes, shelter and the essentials of life at our disposal. There’s money in the bank account, paid work to do and leisure time to look forward to. My kids are receiving a comprehensive education and have grown up with an abundance of opportunity, love and support, protected from fear and threat.

Why then should life cause me stress or suffering? In spite of the lack of mortal danger, stress strikes often, just as I’m sure it does for you.

Over time, we adapt in our capacity to deal with the hardships we face. We learn to function with whatever our ‘norm’ is. When we take on more or when life presents us with a hurdle to overcome, we can either rise to the challenge or crumble before it.

What we become used-to in life shapes our tolerance for stress and hardship. It determines our ability to cope with the challenges we face.

In times of stress and overwhelm I’ve figured out that my best course of action isn’t to retreat into myself, or to let off the pressure in a gesture of personal kindness and self-care. Instead, the answer for me is to seek out more pressure.

I cope better and am way more productive when I’ve got a to-do list of 100 things than if I’ve got 2 things to do. If the list is short, I’ll procrastinate over each and every task. I’ll fixate, debate and worry rather than getting on with the task at hand.

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