ONLINE CHURCH BULLETIN

Stress Reducers

Who doesn't get stressed out during the holiday season? There are countless tasks, errands, parties, etc. to plan. All of this and trying to keep a routine of work, taking care of the kids, house, etc. Sometimes we feel like we are about to just POP! The Bob Hope Institute of Heart Research offers these suggestions to reduce stress:

1. Get up 15 minutes earlier in the morning.
2. Don't rely on your memory, write it down.
3. Procrastination is stressful. Plan ahead.
4. Don't put up with something that doesn't work right...get it fixed or get a new one.
5. Be prepared to wait.
6. Turn "needs" to "preferences," and don't get attached to preferences.
7. Create order out of chaos.
8. Add an ounce of love to everything you do.
9. Become more flexible.
10. Do one thing at a time. If an especially "unpleasant" task faces you, do it early in the morning and get it over with.
11. Learn to delegate responsibility to capable others.
12. Forget about counting to ten...count to 1,000 before doing something or saying anything that could make matters worse.
13. Have a forgiving spirit of events and people.
14. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Then simplify.
15. Don't make mountains out of mole hills.
16. Make friends with non-worriers.
17. Eliminate destructive self-talk, like "I'm too old to..."
18. Learn how to say "No."
19. Find time to relax every muscle in your body.
20. Employ the "Pollyanna Power." For every one thing that goes wrong there are probably 2, 10, 50, or 100 blessings. Count those blessings!

Try these out over the next several days and weeks along with the two most important stress reducers known to mankind, praying and reading the Bible, to see if you don't feel better and have a better outlook on life.

For His Cause,
Tim Woodward