Last week, I explored what mental health is and looked at a part of the definition put forward by the World Health Organization (WHO). They defined mental health as “a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”
I wrote that mental health is a state that means it can fluctuate and if we don’t do our due diligence, we may not make the most of our lives. In this write-up today, I want to continue to explore another part of the definition: your mental health enables you to cope with the stresses of life. What this means is that if you have good mental health, you will be able to handle life’s challenges well and better than if you have poor mental mental because you will be overwhelmed in the process.
This implies that every one of us needs to invest in things that will increase our mental well-being. It is your responsibility to do that. Positive mental health helps you to cope well. The thing here is the ability to cope. Life can be stressful at times but we cannot allow those stresses to stop us from leading a good life that God has promised us.
“The thing here is the ability to cope… we cannot allow those stresses to stop us from leading a good life that God has promised us.”
Coping has the idea that you have the capacity to effectively manage difficult situation in order to deal with or overcome them. That means if you want to effectively manage stress you must develop your capacity. It also means that you have the ability to overcome any overwhelming situation that arises to impede your progress if you know how to care for your mental health.
Your mind matters in the equation of things. You must learn how to care for your mind because it determines whether you win or lose, what you can handle or not, it determines how far you can go. It helps increase your mental alertness.
Here are some ways to deal with stress in your life:
Know your stressors: Oftentimes we go through life without knowing what stresses us. I have learned that it is not everything we face that stresses us. Secondly, some issues stress us more than others. Do you know what your stressors are? Do you know why you are stressed? Do you know how those life’s events are stressing you? If you want to know how to cope with daily stressors, you must at least know what they are so that you are not fighting a wrong battle.
Pay attention to how you interpret a situation and the meaning you give to it: For the most part, it is not what happened to us that is the problem but our interpretation and the meaning we give to it. What meaning are you giving to the situation that you are going through now? How are you interpreting the situation you are currently facing? As God’s children, you must learn to see what He sees so that you can accurately interpret what you are facing or what is happening to you. A wrong interpretation can result in a wrong approach in dealing with the situation, Remember the saying that when the premise is wrong, the conclusion will be wrong as well. Your mindset about a situation will determine your attitude toward it.
“We have the heart of a lion, so we cannot afford to be sheepish in our thinking.”
Know your strengths: One of the challenges we face is the struggle to recognize our strengths. Our strengths talk about our capacity to handle different situation that arises in our lives. For some people, their weaknesses tend to speak louder than their strengths, so they tend to focus, listen and pay more attention to their weaknesses than their strengths. Some of us are not aware of our strengths and don’t see ourselves as those who are strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Because of this, we don’t use the strengths available in us and to us to deal with life’s challenges. So, we shiver or quiver when we are challenged. We have forgotten that many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord will deliver them from all of it. We don’t remember that God has equipped us with the strengths needed to face life and there is no temptation that can happen to us that we cannot deal with. Since we are born of the Spirit, we have God’s strength, wisdom, and power available to us. We have the heart of a lion, so we cannot afford to be sheepish in our thinking. We have forgotten that we are stronger than we think. There is nothing strong enough to overpower, overwhelm, or discourage us when we know that God is the strength of our lives. With God’s strengths available to us we must raise and hold our heads high up and know that Jehovah, the Lord of hosts Himself is our captain and there is nothing that we are currently facing or will face that will overpower Him.
Pick your battles: It is important to learn to pick your battles intelligently. Not everything is worth your time, effort, and energy. Some of us are dispensing much energy to handle little to non issues. If you see how some people respond to different situation that they face, you will think it is more than that. They are spending $100 worth of energy over one cent situation. That is why they are confused and tired unnecessarily because they are fighting as someone who is beating the air and they are aimless in their pursuit. I encourage you to sit down and examine yourself to see how you are responding or reacting to different issues that you are facing. Are you responding well or you are dispensing your energy indiscriminately without thinking through issues?
Stay in Alignment: The more you remain in God, the closer you are aligned to Him and His purpose. Some of us are no longer in alignment with God and that is why we are getting stressed over everything that is happening to and around us. God who created us knows our make-up and what we can handle per time and He has promised that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle. If you don’t know this and want to fight the battle of life by yourself, the devil will beat you hands down. Praying and fellowshipping with God and His people will help you stay in alignment, It will help to constantly remind you about who you are in Christ and how God sees you. When you are in alignment, God takes over your battle. Remember that God always leads in triumph. If you are not in alignment with Him, you will forget who you are in Christ and if this happens you will have lost half of the battle already. Staying in alignment makes you stronger and energizes you to continue to do exploits because it is God who works in you both to do and will for His good pleasure.
Play: If you want to overcome stress and develop the stamina to cope with life’s challenges, you must learn to play. Play relaxes you. It causes you to have fun. Some of us are too serious about everything that we don’t make room for or time to play. This seriousness will cause us to worry instead of having fun. The place of play is the place of surrender when the kid inside you can express itself. When you play, you are telling everyone that you are a child of God and that He is your father. Play decreases your stress hormone and helps you see things differently. We have to consciously engage in play at all times. It increases our mental capacity to solve problems because it helps us develop a new way of seeing and a new approach to doing what we do. When we play, we become creative and innovative. Play takes our minds off what is bothering us and when we are done playing we are refreshed, reenergized, and renewed to see the situation differently. It helps us develop our critical thinking, memory, and concentration. It helps us to be mentally alert. It improves our imagination. It also increases our tenacity and the ability to stay in the game longer. It also engages you. It helps us rest well. When was the last time you really played?
Keep things simple: It is important to keep life simple and not complicate it. If you want to deal with stressful issues, you need to learn how to keep complicated issues very simple. Learn to break things down into what you can manage and approach it one moment at a time. Unfortunately, some of us love to complicate things and not simplify them. What you break down, you can handle well. If you keep on complicating things, you will be inundated by things always be stressful.
“If you are not in alignment with Him, you will forget who you are in Christ and if this happens you will have lost half of the battle already.”
Be realistic: If you want to live a stress-free life and develop the capacity to effectively deal with situations, you must be realistic about your expectations. If you have unrealistic expectations, you will be stressed because you will have unrealistic demands. For example, some of us want others to make us happy. That is a tall order and a setup for failure. Just maybe that is why you are stressed.
Be in the moment: If you want to know how to effectively handle stressful situations you must learn the power of being present. Inspiration flows in the moment and you must learn to unlock and release it to resolve the issues you are facing. The challenge with people sometimes is to allow their past efforts to speak louder than the solution the moment can offer them. It is easier to get stuck when we want to use the wisdom of the past to resolve the issues at hand. We need to let the moment speak for itself and allow the Holy Spirit to give us a way to solve issues with His ideas. Being in the moment is about allowing the God who is beautiful for every situation to minister to you as you face life. Jesus once told His disciples that when they face a difficult situation they must rely on the Holy Spirit to give them the right word to speak at the moment. He told them not to worry about dealing with the situation before time. We too must learn that value because we serve a God who knows what to do when faced with challenges. So, to cope with the challenges you are facing, you must trust that the Holy Spirit will reveal to you how to go about it. You must train yourself to respond to Him as He speaks to you.
Challenge the status quo: If you want to reduce the stress in your life, you must be willing to challenge the status quo so that you don’t get or remain stuck.
