We often hear our friends and colleagues (even ourselves) said the following :
- Life is so stressful.......
- Please!!! Don't give me more stress
- Are you stressing me?
So are you stressed over STRESS? What is Stress then ? Well, Stress simply means a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.
What many do not know that marketeers are cleverly using subtle stress as a form of buying signal. Honestly, did your eyes not somehow look at the above in red ? Why? Colours apparently have a strong impact on our emotions and different colours trigger different reactions in our bodies.
For example, RED and YELLOW are two of the frequently colours used in the food and beverage industries. It somehow triggers our eyeballs to look at the message they want to convey with yellow giving us that sense of warmth and vibrancy mood.
Besides colour, there are also other external factors that possibly could drive our blood pressure up :
1. Traffic congestion
Drivers are well aware of this situation yet why do they still buy the car in the first place ? Are they out of their mind? Definitely not! When someone wants to buy a car, he sees himself and his family in it, having a great time going to the beaches and having a great bonding time. They view it as a form of convenience, in short they allow themselves to magnify what they want, their desires over the existing pain (traffic congestion).
2. Weather
Hot and humid weather makes one easily flustered and go into a rage for no reason. What do you do then? Hit the public pools, travel out of SG or stay in air conditioned malls (no wonder there are so many window shoppers around).
3. Job market
Depending on the industries you are in, if it is sunrise and on a growth track, then you are not so stressful compared to those that are undergoing restructuring and facing redundancy issues. If yo have a chance to talk to local bosses, they will tell you how tough it is to hire workers.
The purpose of sharing these examples above is to illustrate a simple point. All these are out of our control. As human beings, we are endowed with the ability to choose and our choice will determine the results. Being aware that these circumstances are not within our control help us to see a bigger picture and put things in perspective. We can accept it for what it is (like the hot sweltering weather of late, phew!!!) and not let it affect our moods too much.
So are there things we can do to reduce stress in our lives ?
Here's my few suggestions that you might be interested :
1. Get physical
Yes, not the violence sense but get into a physical workout. Exercise help to reduce stress by releasing hormones that make us happy and feel relaxed. After exercise, we usually feel more relieved, breathe better and less uptight than before.
2. Spend time alone
One of my favourite pastime is to take any bus and let it takes me to anywhere. Arm with a good book or nice podcast, I can relax and let my mind freely roam, drawing in the scenery and occasionally hear the interesting conversation in the bus.
3. Cooking
I have always find cooking a therapeutic form of stress relief. Preparing the ingredients and thinking of how to create the final dish is so alluring and require concerted creativity. Try it and you might be addicted.
4. Playing with kids
Kids are gifts from Heaven as I always told my friends and we must spend time with them. We think as adults we are educating them but surprisingly, we can learn a lot just by watching how they communicate and play together. They have no rules and are flexible, constantly changing, sometimes leading, other times follow. They laugh heartily and happily, without worrying about what to do or where to go the next moment. They are IN the moment of time and fully immersed and enjoy themselves. Imaginative as they are , they can imitate adults talking on the phone or put on a silly grin on their face and laugh it off. They are a bundle of joy to be with!
5. Writing
Like cooking, this is another form of expression which have recently spur my interest. It is a great way to pen your thoughts and all sort of ideas that crossed your mind, your innermost secrets that you are fearful of sharing can be recorded here. Nobody needs to know but you. It is safe (provided nobody hacked into your PC) and over time, you discover there is a trail, a pattern emerge that reflects your experience and reveal your desires in life. Be patient, do not rush to connect the dots but allow it to flow freely, enjoy that moment of putting ink on paper and let it go..............................
I hope you are inspired and would try one or some of these methods I shared above. You will be pleasantly surprised how relieved you will feel thereafter. OK, I gotta hit the road for my run, talk soon :)
- Life is so stressful.......
- Please!!! Don't give me more stress
- Are you stressing me?
So are you stressed over STRESS? What is Stress then ? Well, Stress simply means a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.
What many do not know that marketeers are cleverly using subtle stress as a form of buying signal. Honestly, did your eyes not somehow look at the above in red ? Why? Colours apparently have a strong impact on our emotions and different colours trigger different reactions in our bodies.
For example, RED and YELLOW are two of the frequently colours used in the food and beverage industries. It somehow triggers our eyeballs to look at the message they want to convey with yellow giving us that sense of warmth and vibrancy mood.
Besides colour, there are also other external factors that possibly could drive our blood pressure up :
1. Traffic congestion
Drivers are well aware of this situation yet why do they still buy the car in the first place ? Are they out of their mind? Definitely not! When someone wants to buy a car, he sees himself and his family in it, having a great time going to the beaches and having a great bonding time. They view it as a form of convenience, in short they allow themselves to magnify what they want, their desires over the existing pain (traffic congestion).
2. Weather
Hot and humid weather makes one easily flustered and go into a rage for no reason. What do you do then? Hit the public pools, travel out of SG or stay in air conditioned malls (no wonder there are so many window shoppers around).
3. Job market
Depending on the industries you are in, if it is sunrise and on a growth track, then you are not so stressful compared to those that are undergoing restructuring and facing redundancy issues. If yo have a chance to talk to local bosses, they will tell you how tough it is to hire workers.
The purpose of sharing these examples above is to illustrate a simple point. All these are out of our control. As human beings, we are endowed with the ability to choose and our choice will determine the results. Being aware that these circumstances are not within our control help us to see a bigger picture and put things in perspective. We can accept it for what it is (like the hot sweltering weather of late, phew!!!) and not let it affect our moods too much.
So are there things we can do to reduce stress in our lives ?
Here's my few suggestions that you might be interested :
1. Get physical
Yes, not the violence sense but get into a physical workout. Exercise help to reduce stress by releasing hormones that make us happy and feel relaxed. After exercise, we usually feel more relieved, breathe better and less uptight than before.
2. Spend time alone
One of my favourite pastime is to take any bus and let it takes me to anywhere. Arm with a good book or nice podcast, I can relax and let my mind freely roam, drawing in the scenery and occasionally hear the interesting conversation in the bus.
3. Cooking
I have always find cooking a therapeutic form of stress relief. Preparing the ingredients and thinking of how to create the final dish is so alluring and require concerted creativity. Try it and you might be addicted.
4. Playing with kids
Kids are gifts from Heaven as I always told my friends and we must spend time with them. We think as adults we are educating them but surprisingly, we can learn a lot just by watching how they communicate and play together. They have no rules and are flexible, constantly changing, sometimes leading, other times follow. They laugh heartily and happily, without worrying about what to do or where to go the next moment. They are IN the moment of time and fully immersed and enjoy themselves. Imaginative as they are , they can imitate adults talking on the phone or put on a silly grin on their face and laugh it off. They are a bundle of joy to be with!
5. Writing
Like cooking, this is another form of expression which have recently spur my interest. It is a great way to pen your thoughts and all sort of ideas that crossed your mind, your innermost secrets that you are fearful of sharing can be recorded here. Nobody needs to know but you. It is safe (provided nobody hacked into your PC) and over time, you discover there is a trail, a pattern emerge that reflects your experience and reveal your desires in life. Be patient, do not rush to connect the dots but allow it to flow freely, enjoy that moment of putting ink on paper and let it go..............................
I hope you are inspired and would try one or some of these methods I shared above. You will be pleasantly surprised how relieved you will feel thereafter. OK, I gotta hit the road for my run, talk soon :)
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