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Harvest House Publishers, Inc. - H. Norman Wright

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106 pages

English

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H. Norman Wright, bestselling author and noted Christian counselor, encourages readers with ways they can decrease stress and achieve the simpler life they desire. Through helpful stories, hands-on examples, and down-to-earth practicality, Wright provides steps anyone can take to have more energy for the things that really matter by...simplifying work and home lifeestablishing livable goals and prioritiestaking control of financesreleasing emotional baggageexperiencing God's presence more fullyPacked with sound advice and biblical wisdom, Success over Stress guides readers toward making manageable changes to their activities, relationships, and possessions to obtain the rich, satisfying life they long for.

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Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
Date de parution	01 avril 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780736941907
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0462€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible , Copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Verses marked Phillips are taken from J.B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition. J.B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Company.
Verses marked AMP are taken from The Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Cover photo iStockphoto / Elenathewise
Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota
SUCCESS OVER STRESS
Copyright 1998/2013 by H. Norman Wright
Published 2013 by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wright, H. Norman.
Success over stress / H. Norman Wright.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Finding the life you ve been looking for.
ISBN 978-0-7369-3704-7 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4190-7 (eBook)
1. Stress (Psychology)-Religious aspects-Christianity. 2. Stress management-Religious aspects-Christianity. 3. Time management-Religious aspects-Christianity. 4. Simplicity-Religious aspects-Christianity. I. Wright, H. Norman. Simplify your life and get more out of it! II. Title.
BV4509.5.W76 2013
155.9 042-dc23
2012026076
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Contents
1. Are You Stressed?
2. Getting a Stress Less Life
3. Time-Friend or Foe?
4. The Hurry Illness
5. How Do We Measure Success?
6. Living with Balanced Priorities
7. Overloaded and Driven-A Recipe for Stress
8. Energy Drainers and Energy Boosters
9. Downscaling Our Things
10. Living on Less
11. People Who Stress Us Out
12. Dumping Excess Emotional Baggage
13. Doing the Best Thing
14. Letting Our Souls Catch Up
15. Setting Up Your Personal Plan
Notes
1
Are You Stressed?
I m so stressed. Every day ends up the same way. Oh, they start out all right, but it doesn t take long for the wiring in my body to tense up. By evening I feel strung out. I m not sure what to do-or if anything can be done. It s like I m stuck in stress and can t find the out door!
Stress . Is it real or imagined? We talk about it, but does it really exist? Unfortunately, it s all too real. One description of stress compares it to the modern-day equivalent of the dragons of mythical history that sought to devour humans. The creatures don t exist, but stress does-and it can be just as lethal. Today s dragons are our jobs, social conflicts, painful relationships, unhealthy diets, time constraints, and too many electronics. And these modern dragons are more lethal than the mythical ones. Even with all the modern technology and advances we ve made, no generation has experienced the variety and intensity of pressures and conflicts that we have today. 1 Is it likely to get better? You know the answer to that as well as I do.
What is stress exactly? Here s a simple definition: Stress is any life situation that chronically bothers, irritates, or upsets you. Stress is any type of action that places conflicting or heavy demands upon your mind and/or body. What do these demands do? They upset your body s equilibrium. Our bodies come equipped with a highly sophisticated defense system that helps us cope with those events in life that threaten and challenge us. When any of us feels pressured or threatened, our bodies quickly mobilize their defenses for fight or flight. In the case of stress, our bodies release an abundance of adrenaline, which disrupts our normal functioning and creates a heightened sense of awareness. We go on alert. We re like rubber bands that are being stretched. Usually when the pressure is released, the rubber band returns to normal. When it is stretched too much or when it s kept in that position too long, the rubber loses its elasticity and becomes brittle, developing cracks and breaking. That is similar to what happens to us when there is too much stress in our lives.
What is stressful to one individual may not be stressful to another. For some people, stress is worry about future events that can t be avoided and then concern about the events after they ve occurred. For others, stress is simply the wear and tear of life.
Although some people think of stress as tension and some as anxiety, not all stress is bad. We need a certain amount of pressure and stimulation to function properly. Stress can be good if it is short-lived. It s when stress is too much that we end up crippled. And the wrong type of stress can wipe out our spiritual joy as well. Good stress is called eustress , from the Latin word eu , meaning good. It is positive and helpful because it doesn t last and isn t experienced continually. This type of stress can push us to make positive changes. Good stress is a form of resistance that stretches us, but then our body s equilibrium adjusts and returns to a resting state. When our bodies don t return to normal rest and recover, we have bad stress or distress.
Causes of Stress
The stress in your life can be caused when anything happens that-
annoys you
threatens you
excites you
scares you
worries you
hurries you
frustrates you
angers you
challenges you
embarrasses you
reduces or threatens your self-image
Most of the time, however, it is not a particular event that causes stress. So what causes the problem? Most situations that produce stress involve some sort of conflict between ourselves and the world at large. For example, if a teen skips school to go to the beach (which fulfills a personal desire), he creates a new problem at school with his absence. If a mother becomes over-involved at church and then has little time and energy for household responsibilities, there are new demands placed on her family. If she doesn t balance the demands from the outside with those inside herself, she will experience negative stress and pressure.
Where does most of our stress come from? Whether we re children, teens, or adults, stress comes from our own minds . The most damaging stress comes from threats that can t be acted upon because they exist only in our imagination. Some people imagine the worst in a situation. They worry, which creates the sense of more threats and imagined fears. Even when there is a definite threat to the body, the basic problem is still in the mind. Situations that worry a person can be the most troublesome of all. A person who has learned to live according to John 14:27 NIV : Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid, will be able to handle the pressures of life, real and imagined, much better.
Let s Look at Your Life
How would you describe your most recent experience of stress? Was it an isolated incident or a common occurrence? What do you think created the situation? Was it something that happened to you or what happened inside of you in response to what occurred? It was probably both, with an emphasis on your internal response. Remember what stress is? Let me share this again:
Stress is not what happens outside of you.
Stress is what happens inside of you.
It s true that we live with many demands outside of ourselves, but much of our stress comes from the demands we place on ourselves. We can t avoid stress. We all experience it, and some will experience it more than others. In fact, the higher the level of expectations we have for ourselves, and the more we need to be in control, and the greater the need we have to be perfect, the greater will be our levels of stress. Stress is sometimes difficult to define because what is stressful to one person isn t to another. Stress is an individual response and can even vary from time to time for each person. What is stress? Let s consider what others said in response to a survey I conducted.
Women
Impossible expectations from myself or others, feeling powerless and vulnerable.
Feeling overwhelmed in circumstances. Difficulties in maintaining calm and peace.
The result of my expectations of what life should be like getting in the way of what actually is happening.
Unpleasant feeling of pressure and inability to control surroundings/circumstances.
That which is on my mind regardless of what I m doing or saying.
Amplified noise, financial problems, clutter, family worries, heightened anxiety.
My lack of ability to fix or control life circumstances that I don t like; mild stress can be a good thing-energizing.
Pressure to perform or accomplish resulting from a variety of sources-good and bad. Usually experience it with muscle tightness (back/shoulders).
Men
Not being able to control a situation or environment that is creating a burden on one s behavior or the outcome of such appears to be negative or harmful.
Discord inside or out.
The mental condition of knowing that one s situation could be different (better) and believing it should be different. Th