Too often when people feel overwhelmed, they say they need to reduce stress. While that may sound like a solution, that belief is a fallacy.
Reducing and managing stress are, at best, short-term solutions. Given the toxic effects of stress on your body, mind, and spirit, the goal needs to be to eliminate whatever is causing the stress. This may sound challenging, as often the stress is the product of a relationship or a situation in our lives that we feel that we cannot change. However, change is the constant in all of our lives, and to move forward we need to change how we handle the toxic touchpoints that compromise our well-being.
There are several actions you can take to eliminate the stress in your life: limit exposure to the person or situation, establish boundaries, and refocus your attention.
Limit exposure
This is not about ghosting someone, but rather about setting limits on the time and the frequency with which you will interact with them.
Establish boundaries
It may be that you no longer want to discuss a certain topic with a person because it makes you uncomfortable. If the topic comes up, then you can either change the conversation or say, ”Let’s talk about something else.”
Refocus your attention
Whatever is causing you stress is real, and since engagement is detrimental to your well-being, perhaps it is time to move to a new focus. Relationships are made up of people. As time passes, people and situations evolve at different rates and in different directions. Sometimes they grow closer and sometimes apart, even when at one point they were all in the same place.
When you recognize that you have the ability to eliminate what is causing stress, you are taking a step in a healthier direction. There is much that you can do to eliminate the stress you are experiencing. It is in your hands.
That does not mean that you have to solve it by yourself. Knowing you need help and asking for help is a sign of strength. When you need professional support, please call the National Alliance for Hispanic Health helpline at (866) 783-2645 Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST, and our health promotion advisor will give you information on services near you.