How To Stay Balanced To Relieve Stress And Cope With Busy Days

This week I have been stretched…mentally, emotionally and physically, but I think I’m doing pretty good with the balancing act.

Balancing The Tasks

There were some major things that had to get done this week. The week started and ended with several LONG interviews that I think went well. Everyone assumed I was nervous before the interviews, but I wasn’t nervous a bit. I feel quite relaxed at interviews and even with people in general because I am who I am. If I remain real and true to myself, then there’s no reason for me to be upset if someone doesn’t like me. Sometimes personalities clash and I’ve come way to far in life to start bending over backwards for people who don’t appreciate me just the way I am. Anyway, I actually enjoyed the interviews and hope that they come back with a good offer.

All is not lost if they don’t, however, because I’ve been really busy building websites this week too. Actually, I completely finished one website and the other three websites are at varying “degrees of doneness.” Makes it sound like I’m cooking, doesn’t it? Well, I have been cooking, but it just wasn’t food. I didn’t sleep for three days because I was glued to the computer. Then I slept for five hours and didn’t sleep again for two more days. All I can say is that I’m on a roll.

I’ll admit that going without sleep is probably not so great, but my adrenaline was pumping in excess so I’ve been unable to sleep. What can be more exciting than going on interviews and creating websites? No wonder I couldn’t sleep! Ha!

Balancing tasks and responsibilities can be difficult at times. How can you be sure to get everything finished?

10 Tips To Help You Stay Balanced

On a busy day it is especially important to find balance and harmony within yourself. The peace you feel will spread throughout all the tasks of the day just the same that stress or unhappiness will if you do not learn how to cope with all the boulders that get thrown your way.

Is it possible to remain balanced in the face of a stressful, busy day?

Well…

Yes.

Yes you can remain balanced, but it will require you to do something. A peaceful day doesn’t just plop itself in your lap and say, “Here I am! I’ll make all your stress go away!”

Getting in balance and remaining balanced is the result of work and attitude. So here are some tips that will help you to stay balanced on a stressful, busy day or on a relaxed, lazy day.

1. Sleep – So many things happen while you sleep, but the top three things that happen when you sleep are:
   • The body restores itself.
   • The mind throws out all kinds of information that you don’t need anymore.
   • The brain solves problems that baffled you while you were awake.

   Sleeping a continuous eight hours each night will make you feel more energetic and positive. Not only will your body function better, but your mind will be more alert and able to balance each task better.

2. Eat Healthy – The food that is bad for you is often the most craved because it is also the most delicious. Seriously, does fresh steamed broccoli even compare to triple layer refrigerator strawberry cake topped with homemade whip cream? No. There is no way to compare the loads of sugar and carbohydrates in the cake to the healthiness of broccoli. The cake is going to give you a rush of energy and positive happiness, but it doesn’t take long before those feelings disappear and you quickly take a dive back to a physically depressed reality. Sugar drops are often hard to cope with which is why you load up on sugar until it is bedtime and then you sleep extra sound because of the sugar crash. It may sound glorious, but eating “bad for your body” foods have so many negative side effects that healthy steamed broccoli is more appealing to me. Those lovely green bunches of broccoli won’t cause my energy level to dive nor will it pack pounds on my hips.

3. Drink Healthy – Hormone filled milk, mind numbing alcohol and sugar/fake sugar laden sodas are all examples of beverages that are not as healthy/healthy at all in comparison to water, water and more water. A human body, your human body is made up of 55 – 75 percent water. Seriously, think about that percentage for a moment. If you are 55 percent water, then a good way to visualize it is to imagine how full of water you would be if you were like a glass.

   
   Seems a bit ridiculous to me to fill my body with liquids that just drag down my health. That’s why I’m a big water drinker.

4. Dream Awake – At night when you are sleeping, I’m pretty sure no one tells you what to dream. They also don’t walk up to you in the middle of your dream and say, “Hey! You are having a stupid dream. Stop it.”

   Dreams during the day should work about the same way. No one can tell you what to dream or when to stop dreaming. It is all in your mind, so dream big. Dream outside the logical ways of doing things. Dream beyond all you can imagine. Dreams energize your soul and invigorate you into action which eventually leads to accomplishment.

5. Believe In Yourself – You are number one. Everything about you has to matter to YOU. If you believe in yourself, you will not only feel positive, but you will act more confident. Confidence is a beautiful thing and it is also quite sexy.

   Think about it. When a confident person walks into a room, they are mesmerizing. Their posture is straighter, their gait more sure, and their face is calm because a confident person knows that they can accomplish any dream they pursue.

6. Stop The Negative Self-Talk – You can’t have positive self-esteem by feeding your mind with negative self-talk. It’s just not possible. If you are constantly cutting yourself down, you will look in the mirror and see an ugly person. Everyone else might see a beautiful woman or handsome man, but the beauty of yourself won’t appear when you look at your reflection. Positive self-talk will build confidence and self-esteem.

7. Be Honest – Honesty builds integrity and respect. An honest person usually has peace and looks peaceful because they are not caught in a web of deceitful lies and dark intentions.

8. Quiet Time – Everyday there should be a stretch of time when you pray, meditate, contemplate or whatever you want to call it. The television is off. The music is off. The phone is off. Your surroundings are quiet and peaceful. You can hear your voice in your head.

   Too often people surround themselves with so much noise that they are unable to hear the dreams and solutions the mind has worked out for them. If you take meditative, prayerful, quiet time, it will help bring you back to the basics – the important things in life.

9. Stay Focused – When chaos abounds, that is the time you need to make a concerted effort to remain focused on the goal. Live this moment in peace even though nothing around you is peaceful. By remaining focused on right now, the goal continues to feel attainable and the chaos of right now does not overwhelm you with stress. To be really concrete, you can only live this very moment anyway, so throw out the stress and just handle everything to the best of your ability.

10. Love – There is one emotion that is exhilarating, scary, heartbreaking, euphoria, sexy, passionate, kind, exciting, peaceful and will help you remain grounded.

    Love.

    Love is the beginning and end of all things good. With love most things are possible and without love, people become selfish, greedy and mean. When you are surrounded by the warmth of love, your confidence and self-esteem soar. You not only believe you’re wonderful, you know it! The gentle arms of love are always the soft haven to fall into for healing and comfort.

You might be asking, “How can these ten tips help me stay balanced?”

Think about them as a whole for a second. With all these ten things going right for you, being strengthened by you, valued as important by you, there is no room for chaos and stress to reside permanently. You are able to keep the scales balanced because a momentary heavy heart or turn off course is only just that – momentary. There is too much strength within you to let anything wreak havoc in your life for long. The scale naturally stays balanced because you take the time to buoy up the important traits and aspects required when living a good life.

There’s always going to be good and bad, ups and downs, happiness and heartbreaks, but if you can always bring it back into balance, life remains an overall happy experience.

A Story Of Balance

The whole time I was suffering with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), my life was in chaos. There was no balance because my mind had been rearranged like the snow in a shaken snow globe. Every time the snow globe was shaken, all the snowflakes landed in a different place.

Family couldn’t understand.

Co-workers and bosses didn’t understand.

Friends couldn’t understand.

Doctors and therapists didn’t understand.

It was a lonely, lonely, lonely time in my life.

Somehow I knew that the only way I was going to heal was if I did something about it. The world in general doesn’t believe you can “heal” PTSD, but deep in my gut I knew they were wrong. Don’t ask me how I knew it, but I just knew that I was not going to remain in that blackness for the rest of my life.

Not only was the world dark, but everything remained in chaos because my mind and heart were in chaos.

In order to escape some of the PTSD demons, I sat on the couch and stared out the window. No television. No music. No telephone. No noise. Just silence except for the billions of painful chaotic thoughts running through my mind. It was during those times that I sat on the couch that I learned to find balance because when the mind finds balance, the soul feels peace.

The journey to healing PTSD is not peaceful and yet it is what taught me to crave peace and balance.

A well rested, healthily nourished body enables you to remain positive, give/receive love, and keep life balanced. There will always be sad or bad experiences, but those moments in our life do not have to take over our life.

PTSD took over my life. The day I took my life back is a day I will always celebrate. It was my new beginning.

Tonight as I sit here in a darkened room in front of the computer with Bella snoring on a blanket by my feet and the strains of music from the easy listening station softly playing an old favorite, I am able to share my story with you because getting back to a balanced state saved my life.

Living without chaos as the ruler is too good to describe.

Kick chaos to the curb and become unwilling to let go of a more permanent peace.

Balance is not overrated. It is well worth your effort to work towards attaining a more balanced life.