Managing stress is key to happiness
Amanda Doyle
Issue date: 9/7/05 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
This morning, your dog peed on the floor right as you were running out to class. This afternoon, you got a C on the paper you were praying for that A on. Tonight, you caught your best friend checking out your boyfriend. Bad day?
It could be ... if you make it that way. All of these situations could potentially turn out to be a lot worse and a lot more stressful than they already are. If you dwelled on that C that you got on that paper for the rest of the week, it may have a negative effect on the work you do in your classes. If you took the look your friend gave your boyfriend out of proportion, you could risk your friendship, and maybe even your relationship, even though she may not have really meant anything by the look. If you sweat the small stuff, you may be making yourself more stressed out than you need to be.
Life moves fast these days, and everyone knows that college life is pretty stressful. With papers due, homework to think about doing, procrastinating about the homework we should do but really don't want to, going to classes, procrastinating about going to classes, not going to classes, keeping up with the gossip of what the girl or guy did down the hall the other night, figuring out where to party, when to party, who to party with and trying to catch the eye of that cute co-ed in your psych class, it doesn't leave much room for dwelling on the little things that make us upset.
What better time than college to delete the little stressors in our life? We already have so much to deal with. If we can help our stress level by not stressing over these small things, we may at least have a better outlook on life.
OK, so maybe you're not an optimist. Well, neither am I. But if I can lower my stress level by looking at the situation from a different point of view, then I'm willing to try it. You should too. It is so important to our stress level to at least attempt to look on the brighter side of things so we aren't so uptight all the time. It keeps your stress level down, and you become a generally happier person if you worry more about the bigger things than every little thing that crosses your path.
I'm not saying to ignore the small, annoying things that occur in our everyday lives, but in order to keep our lives less stressful than they already are, we should just acknowledge that they happened, and then forget about them. This way, we can all lead happier and healthier lives. So the next time your pooch leaves a care package that makes you less than excited to receive, smile and say, "At least he missed the laundry I just finished."
It could be ... if you make it that way. All of these situations could potentially turn out to be a lot worse and a lot more stressful than they already are. If you dwelled on that C that you got on that paper for the rest of the week, it may have a negative effect on the work you do in your classes. If you took the look your friend gave your boyfriend out of proportion, you could risk your friendship, and maybe even your relationship, even though she may not have really meant anything by the look. If you sweat the small stuff, you may be making yourself more stressed out than you need to be.
Life moves fast these days, and everyone knows that college life is pretty stressful. With papers due, homework to think about doing, procrastinating about the homework we should do but really don't want to, going to classes, procrastinating about going to classes, not going to classes, keeping up with the gossip of what the girl or guy did down the hall the other night, figuring out where to party, when to party, who to party with and trying to catch the eye of that cute co-ed in your psych class, it doesn't leave much room for dwelling on the little things that make us upset.
What better time than college to delete the little stressors in our life? We already have so much to deal with. If we can help our stress level by not stressing over these small things, we may at least have a better outlook on life.
OK, so maybe you're not an optimist. Well, neither am I. But if I can lower my stress level by looking at the situation from a different point of view, then I'm willing to try it. You should too. It is so important to our stress level to at least attempt to look on the brighter side of things so we aren't so uptight all the time. It keeps your stress level down, and you become a generally happier person if you worry more about the bigger things than every little thing that crosses your path.
I'm not saying to ignore the small, annoying things that occur in our everyday lives, but in order to keep our lives less stressful than they already are, we should just acknowledge that they happened, and then forget about them. This way, we can all lead happier and healthier lives. So the next time your pooch leaves a care package that makes you less than excited to receive, smile and say, "At least he missed the laundry I just finished."
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