Stress, we’ve all faced it, some more than others. We’ve all felt to some degree its effects upon our life, relationships and health. How can we relieve stress? How can we lessen the effects of stress upon our lives?
Stress is the result of worry and fear. Dr. O. F. Gober was one of the medical executives of the Santa Fe RailRoad and he stated, “75% of all patients who come to doctors could cure themselves if they only got rid of their fears and worries.” He went on to say, “Fear causes worry and worry makes you tense and nervous and affects the nerves of your stomach and actually changes the gastric juices of your stomach from normal to abnormal and often leads to stomach ulcers.”
The most common and subtlest of all human diseases is stress, says a well known doctor. Plato said, ”The greatest mistake physicians make is that they attempt to cure the body without attempting to cure the mind.” Time does not permit us to go into the effects of stress on our relationships, our jobs, our social lives and how it affects our personality. We need to relieve stress. But how?
1) Thought replacement. Stress begins in our thoughts. We allow an accumulation of stress thoughts to build up in our minds until they overwhelm us. We need a daily emptying of stress producing thoughts. Just like we empty the garbage from our homes we need to empty the garbage of stress from our minds and replace it with life-giving thoughts and ideas. Throughout the day when stress tries to re-enter, replace it with optimism.
2) Word replacement. Our mental attitude is affected by our words, by speaking good, positive and uplifting words we start a process that leads to the actual fact that words and thoughts reproduce themselves in kind.
3) Future replacement. Stress creates a hopeless future, but hopeful thoughts, great thoughts about your future will punch holes in the darkness of your future. Paint in your mind and imagination a picture of constant hope. Visualize a wonderful tomorrow, soon the stress of today will lessen and you will begin to feel new energy and strength.
You can, preview the first part of my series called “The Mind, Mental and Emotional Health” and begin your journey today.
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This is a great article, and it’s true how fear can cause stress which blocks people from seeing a bright future. I’ve been there and it was not a good place to be, but thanks be to God for opening my eyes to see hope for the future in Him.