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.
