How to Have an Amazing Summer: De-stress

by Devin Dummel

If you’re breathing, you’ve got stress.

Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to both good and bad experiences that can be beneficial to your health and safety. God designed your body to respond to stress by releasing hormones and increasing your heart and breathing rates.   So stress and how your body deals with it are actually part of God’s intelligent design.  In the short term, stress helps you cope with tough situations.  It’s a mechanism that we need and that God gave us.

Stress can be triggered by the pressures of everyday responsibilities at work and at home. And as you have probable experienced, negative life events like going through a divorce or the death of a loved one cause stress.

Not getting enough rest, dealing with a physical illness, or an unexpected traumatic event, can keep your body’s stress levels elevated far longer than is necessary for survival.  Chronic stress can cause a variety of symptoms and can affect your overall health and well-being.

So we all need a break from the stresses of life if we are going to keep ourselves healthy and on track.  One way to make this an amazing summer is to find time to de-stress.

While the summer may seem like a time that can be busier than the rest of the year, I encourage you and your family to view the summer as a strategic time to find opportunities to de-stress.  Don’t also these few short months go by without taking some time to release your “stress valve” and get back to normal.

As follower of Jesus, there is no better way to de-stress than to take time away from all the pressures and spend some time with Him.  He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Set some time aside this week and read some of the following passages of scripture.  Take a piece of paper or a notebook and write out some of the key phrases that jump out to you, doodle, draw or write out your prayers.  You don’t need much to spend time with Him.   Just create a little extra space in your day.

·        Jeremiah 29:11

·        Proverbs 29:11

·        Proverbs 3:5-6

·        Ephesians 4:26

·        Ephesians 4:31-32

·        Matthew 6:19-21

·        Hebrews 12:6

I want to encourage you that if you don’t already have some time set aside in your day or your week to get alone without any distractions and get with God, that you create a habit and do so.  There is nothing that will have a greater impact for your stress levels than trusting and relying on God daily.

Outside of reading scripture this summer you may want to find other ways to decompress and de-stress.  Everyone is different and you probably already know some of the ways that you like to destress but here are a few examples of other things you could do to relieve your stress and making this summer amazing:

·        Read for fun – it seems these days reading is a lost art.  Go to the library and check out a book, borrow something recommended by a friend, or dust off something you purchased in the past.  But read a book cover to cover for fun.  Don’t worry about “getting something out of it”.  Just read to get lost for a little bit.  I would encourage you to pick up some form of fiction and just get lost in your imagination.

·        Get outside – Go to a park. Go on a hike.  Sit by a pool. Drive around the country with the windows done.  Whatever you do, just get outside and breathe some fresh air.  Enjoy all the beauty of God’s creation, and just take it in.

·        Unplug for 24 hours – It may be difficult, but for 24 hours have your family shut off all the screens.  Turn off the phones, iPads, and gaming devices and just unplug.  Play some board games, explore your neighborhood, do anything that doesn’t involve electronics. 

·        Do something new – try something you never have before.  Do something that maybe you’re nervous about doing.  Go to a restaurant you’ve always wanted to try.  Get together with that high school or college buddy.  Whatever it is get out of your routine for a few minutes.

 

Whatever you do this summer, make sure you include letting go of some of the stress in your life.   I promise you that you won’t regret it.  You will be so thankful you took the time to decompress.  You family will also find itself in a much healthier and happier place as they transition back into the fall.   If you choose to strategically take some time now to de-stress, I promise it will just be one of the many reasons why this summer will be amazing.