Five years ago, with slurred speech, numbness in my arm, and difficulty breathing, I was admitted to the emergency room. All the signs of a heart attack.
Surely, this wasn’t happening. I was only 35.
But it was.
Living with high levels of stress was putting my entire body and life at risk.
After much care and tests, the doctors were able to rule out a heart attack, but not without warning. Looking at me, the doctor said words that changed my life.
“Whatever you are not dealing with in your life is killing you. You must learn healthy ways to respond to the stress or the stress will take your life, and you will be right back here with a real heart attack.”
This was my crossroads moment.
Would I live my life dictated by stressors missing out on the full life God had designed for me? Or would I learn to truly learn to rest in God placing my cares in Him so that I could walk out His purpose and will for my life?
Leaving that hospital, I was filled with praise. I was given another chance to fully live the life God had given me. I had one more day to love my husband and family. I had another opportunity to walk in my purpose. Nope. This would NOT be my ending.
I made up my mind that stress would no longer hold me captive. I was breaking free. To do that, I had to make some lifestyle changes.
Even though we all may experience occasional moments of stress, we were not designed to live a life stressed out. Here are three healthy techniques that aid me in managing stress in a healthy way so that I can continue to enjoy my life.
Self-care is a priority, not an option.
Taking care of myself became one of the areas I sacrificed in my effort to handle “everything.” Ignoring taking care of yourself, especially during stressful situations, can increase the harmful effects of stress on our bodies. When we put off taking care of our bodies, we can increase our chances of developing stress-related illnesses like insomnia, excessive weight gain, digestive issues, and mood swings. Unfortunately, during that season, I was experiencing them all.
In my effort to take care of everyone else, I was putting off taking care of me. I quickly learned to ignore self-care was reckless and harmful. Taking care of me was not a prize after a strenuous day; instead, it’s a part of the process that helps me to be the best version of myself. A few healthy self-care habits to start are:
- Developing a healthy bedtime routine: Adequate sleep helps to fuel proper thinking and functioning of our bodies. Lack of sleep impacts our moods and can cause us to respond irrationally.
- Exercising regularly: Whether it is a brisk walk around the neighborhood or going to the gym, exercising helps with processing stress.
- Relaxing: Set time aside each day in your schedule for you to relax and protect that time.
- Eating healthy: One of the culprits of weight gaining, while stressed, is often linked to poor eating habits. Spend time planning your meals, especially on days that you are stretched more than usual.Focus on prayer over problems
Manage stress with prayer
Although developing healthy habits are essential aids in managing our lives externally, these habits cannot fix what is happening internally. Prayer is a vital tool in developing consistent changes for a healthy life. A part of living with stress versus experiencing a stressful moment is often rooted in our perspective. Where are your thoughts? Is the pain you are experiencing on constant replay? Are you talking more about your heartbreak than healing? When we choose to change our perspective from our problems to prayer, a shift happens in our hearts. We can see that Christ is our ever-present help.
Developing a consistent prayer life changes our thoughts from mindless to mindful. Our thoughts shift from focusing on our problems to focusing on our all powerful, all knowing God. So how can we use prayer to manage our stress?
- Immerse yourself in scripture: What does the Bible say about your situation? Use the scriptures to pray for your situation.
- Surround yourself with the word: Place scripture about your situation in your car, above your kitchen sink, or write them on the mirror in your bathroom so that you can meditate on God’s truth versus idolizing the stressful situation.
- Pray about it before you talk about it: Going to those we trust for support is important, but it should not take the place of going to God first.
Accept God’s Grace
Stress tends to happen when we are overworked, tired, sick, or outside of our routine. We say “yes” to one too many responsibilities and stretch ourselves too thin causing us to feel an overwhelming level of stress. Or maybe stress builds when we are faced to deal with a broken heart, caring for a sick family member, or circumstances outside of our control. Life just becomes hard. Any moment we might just cave from the pressure.
The guilt we feel takes us captive preventing us from seeing beyond the “shoulda, coulda, woulda” moments of life. Taking a step back, we must learn to extend grace to ourselves. When we are surrendered to Christ, grace is more than our weak earthly attempt to excuse our shortcomings. Grace is a reflection of all that Christ has already done for us. In Him, we can see His grace in the big and small experiences. We simply have to open our hearts to receive.
What changes will you make?
Cheering you on,
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Ala
I think as mothers, we ask to much things to be done from us. We need sone relaxing and doing nothing time. If we do not have such time, then we just can’t step forward withought stress.
Mamie L. Pack
AlaOur expectations can be too high and only led us to feeling inadequate. That’s not fair to us or others.
thegrowingcreatives
Thank God you were ok and have been able to work towards reducing stress since then!! It’s definitely something I need to work on as well.
A Nation of Moms
How scary that stress took such a toll on you. I’m glad that you found ways to deal with stress. Thanks for sharing these! I have a lot of stress in my life and I need to take better care of myself.
Mamie L. Pack
A Nation of MomsMost women do and we often ignore it in our effort to take care of others.
Kim
I’ve seen so many people myself included impact their health by high levels of stress. Whenever I feel my immune system down or I’m getting sick it reminds me to stick to my night routine and getting enough rest or sleep.
Mamie L. Pack
KimRest and sleep are two essentials to a healthy lifestyle for sure!
Allison Shorter
Wow! What a life changing moment. I am glad you are okay and have altered things in your life to be healthier.
Mamie L. Pack
Allison ShorterYes it does! Is such a blessing to have the opportunity to make changes.
Tiarra
You are so right, taking care of yourself is so important. Fill the well before you can take from it. Thank you for the reminder!
Mamie L. Pack
TiarraI love that Tiara. “Fill the well”
teachworkoutlove
I am really bad at this. I need to try to be better at it.
Mamie L. Pack
teachworkoutloveOh, I get that for sure. Just pick on place to start then start.
Elease Colcord
I’ve really put a lot of focus on self care over the past few years– boy does it help!
Mamie L. Pack
Elease ColcordYay!!! What are your favorite self-care routines?
Anna
Stressn is not healthy for our body at all. My husband and I use to be stress all the time when things done go right but then we noticed the impact it brings to ourselves and decided to take action and chance how we handle it. Self-care is very important.
Mamie L. Pack
AnnaThat is wonderful you and your husband talked together and made healthy decisions. That is a BIG step toward healthy living.
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I really like the section about self care being a priority not an option. Very challenging and good words. Thanks for sharing!
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Teresa Hodge
I’m so glad you are doing well now! How scary! Thank you for these words of wisdom to help with stress management. I agree it is important that we take care of ourselves. How can we continue to give if we have nothing left to give?
lmckeeediting
How scary! I battle with keeping stress under control. Thanks for this post. You share some good information.
Mamie L. Pack
lmckeeeditingThank you!
Fruitful Vine Woman
Oh man, I have been making some very much needed changes in my life over the past couple of years. From self-care to removing myself from toxic relationships and having some very brutally honest conversations with God and others around me. It has definitely helped, but I am still on my journey. Stress kills, God’s peace gives life. I am pursuing His Peace at all costs.
M. J.
Wow that must have been so scary! Thanks for these tips. I know I am always stressed, so this really helps!
Donna Miller
This is so good Mamie! I know what it feels like to be operating in stress overload and feeling the physical aspects of it. The last point, accepting God’s grace, I think is something we women struggle with. We want to carry the responsibility for so much and don’t know how to give ourselves grace, let alone God’s. Beautifully written post my friend …
Mary Rooney Armand
Great post on ways to manage stress in our lives. It really can sneak up on you if not intentionally pursuing peace. Love your 3 tips!
Collene
Yes, such a great reminder to watch our stress levels. I think your doctor was right. When we don’t deal with what is eating us on the inside we end up dealing with it on the outside. When we don’t manager our stress right, our bodies suffer. Great reminder to deal with our stress before it deals with us.
kariminter
This post was a bit of a wake up call for me! I tend to avoid thinking about my stress but need to deal with it! Thanks so much for writing this!
Ava James
If we don’t deal with pressure it can turn into stress. You have some great tips that we all can incorporate. Most times we know we should but the key is doing rather than saying we will.
Betty
Love it! My takeaway is to prioritize self care and do more exercises.
Mamie L. Pack
BettySelf-care is so vital.
Evangeline Samuel
Such a practical post! Thanks so much!
Elizabeth Anderson
I’ve been going through a lot lately and your tips are great! I’ve also been taking hot bathes when I feel very overwhelmed. Thanks for sharing
Erin
Stress is definitely a killer. Praise God you were able to make healthy lifestyle changes and learn to handle your stress in a healthy way!
Sheryl Mendoza
Hi, Mamie! Thank you so much for this helpful and wonderful post in managing stress. I am also glad that you are now well and great! Praying for more blessings to come your way! Sending you healing always! God bless you!
Karen
Oh my goodness you must have got a terrible fright with those symptoms! I was reading your post congratulating myself that yes I know all thes things to cope with stress and then I saw the paragraph about accepting God’s Grace. Oh boy! That hurt! I will be working on that area of my life now❤️
Mamie L. Pack
KarenThanks Karen! Accepting His grace helps release the stress we hold on to.