KEEPING A DAILY JOURNAL University Counseling Services 2nd Floor English Counseling Services Bldg KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY MANHATTAN KS 66506 JOURNAL 1 TOP TEN STRESSORS There are many surveys assessments and questionnaires to help people Identify circumstances that cause stress and the Intensity of frustration that they create But these questionnaires can be quite impersonal and typically they tell us what we already know that indeed we do have stress But oftentimes people are not aware of what the cause of their stress is because they don t take the time to examine it More often than not people ignore or avoid their stressors hoping they will go away Seldom if ever does this approach work and usually these problems don t go away In fact they usually haunt us until we take some positive action The best way to start to get a handle on the cause of your stress is to pinpoint exactly what is bothering you By writing down what is on your mind you begin to get a better idea of what it s all about So take a moment to think about what is on your mind what is troubling you or what caused you to get angry or afraid of something lately Make a list and then prioritize your top ten stressors from the most stressful to the least stressful If you have fewer than ten fine Don t feel compelled to add more than you really have Once you have made this list describe each stressor in a couple of sentences so you have a really good focus on each one JOURNAL 2 HOW WAS YOUR DAY TODAY The measure of mental health is the disposition to find good everywhere Ralph Waldo Emerson How was your day today This is a standard question that wives husbands parents children or any loved ones pose to the working force as they return home from the office dock school factory or road Now it is time to ask it of yourself To sum up your day is a way to unload your mind from sensory overload as well as to help you Identify and come to terms with the major Issues and concerns experienced In the course of your day So how was your day Good or bad Did any significant events positive or negative occur How do you feel about them JOURNAL 3 STRESS BAROMETER CHECK Death is nature s way of saying law down Woody Allen Weather reports economic forecasts news sound bites and mail are all bits of the information we assemble to gain a clearer understanding of our collective environments Heart rate blood pressure ventilation and muscle tension are clinical vital signs used to determine an initial health status report Monitored regularly they too can help us understand how our bodies absorb the events of our lives Sight hearing taste smell and touch are senses that help the mind gather and process the information that our environments send us And too much information can overload the circuits Figuratively speaking this can blow a fuse The result is stress related disease and illness from the common cold to coronary heart disease and perhaps even cancer Research now suggests that between 70 and 80 percent of all disease and illness is associated with stress Therefore it is a very good idea to monitor your stress levels periodically as well as their potential repercussions on your body Take a moment to contemplate your mind body relationship Scope yourself top to bottom head to toe and check for any signs or symptoms that could be a result of too much wear and tear on the body from perceived stress Are there any hot spots some part of your body that Is the target of your perceived stress Next check your current level of sensory input deprivation vs overload Both can cause stress If either seems to be evident what can you do to remedy this situation Take a pen in hand and jot down what you find with your stress barometer check Mental imagery can be a powerful tool to heal the body From the research of O Carl Simonton coauthor of the best seller Getting Well again and Bernie Siegel author of Love Medicine Miracles we have learned that some cancer patients actually have had their tumors go into remission by thinking of metaphorical images to heal the body Additional studies have shown that imagery can be used to assist in the healing processes of such health problems including hypertension imagining unclogged highways ulcers darning socks tension headaches Ironing wrinkled clothes you name it All it takes is a little creativity generating an idea and implementing the idea If you have a hot spot or a manifestation of stress in your body can you think of a metaphorical Image to initiate the healing process Give it a try You may even want to map out this hot spot on an image of your body and write out a mental Image to heal it JOURNAL 4 CONFRONTATION OF A STRESSOR It happens to us all the time Someone or something gets us frustrated and we literally or figuratively head for the hills either avoiding the person or thing altogether or Ignoring the situation in the hope that it will go away But when we ignore situations like this they typically come back to haunt us In the short run avoidance looks appealing even safe But in the long run it is bad policy Really bad policy We avoid confrontation because we want to avoid the emotional pain associated with it the pain our ego suffers Handled creatively diplomatically and rationally the pain is minimal and it often helps our spirits grow After all this is what life is all about to achieve our full human potential The art of peaceful confrontation involves a strategy of creativity diplomacy and grace to ensure that you come out the victor not the victim In this sense confrontation doesn t mean a physical battle but rather a mental emotional or spiritual battle Unlike a physical battle where knights wear armor this confrontation requires that you set aside the shield of your ego long enough to resolve the fear or anger associated with the stressor The weapons of this confrontation are self assertiveness self reliance and faith There is no malice spite or deceit involved Coping mechanisms that aid the confrontation process include but are not limited to the following strategies communication information seeking cognitive reappraisal social engineering and values assessment and clarification We all encounter stressors that we tend to run away from Now it is time to gather your Internal resources and make a plan to success fully confront your stressor When you initiate this confrontation plan you come out the victor with a positive resolution and a feeling of accomplishment First reexamine the list of your