Wake me up when October ends...

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Answer-Stressed out! Question-How're ya doin' Rach?

I was finishing up filling in all the important days in the month of October today. Assignment due dates, midterms, seminar proposals, volunteering etc. Needless to say there is alot of marker on my calendar.
I think the Nursing program secretly tries to get us to apply Lazarus and Folkman's coping strategies to everyday life in order to make it through the month of October. Stupid practical application of knowledge.
And yet with all the marker on my calendar, I've probably taken as many 'study breaks' as essay writing shifts today. And now here I am complaining about stress, life, my heavy workload and what am I doing? Blogging! Procrastination at its finest.
I started to wonder about stress. The stress response is initiated when a stressor is present in the body or perceived in the mind. This stress response activates a cascade of stress hormones that affect organ systems. (ie. sympathetic response-quickened breathing, rapid heart rate, blood diverted to muscles...etc) Long periods of anxiety or stress are damaging to the body and influence health. Research has even strengthened the association of stress with a potential for illness. One study examined healthy medical students (they'll do anything for extra credit, won't they) who were innoculated with the flu virus. Individuals reporting more stress had an increased incidence of clinical cold and respiratory symptoms. Okay, enough health promotion. No more nursing stuff, I promise.
Stress, I even hate the word. It's probably because I have a tendency to get really stressed out. I remember in first year I had 4 midterms in 3 days and I got so incredibly overwhelmed that my parents drove all the way to Hamilton just to give me a hug and a pineapple. Although I've come a long way in those two years, I still have quite a ways to go. Things always seem to get done no matter how little time I have, and yet I still stress out. And, not only do I stress about school, but I like to make sure I am a well rounded stresser-outer...so I stress about boys, money, the future, family, friends, the works.
I think everyone has different ways of handling stress. I usually eat ice cream, but that is a bad coping mechanism according to Lazarus and Folkman. Bubble baths are probably next in line. Then if I'm really stressed out, I cry. (I'm such a girl)
None of these really help! They are just stress band-aids. Temporary relief. I started to think about how often I tend to stray toward the temporary. Quick fixes. Eating an entire litre of ice cream isn't going to get my essay written faster or solve my boy problems.
Rather than turning to some self-help book, latest ice cream flavour or even Oprah, I should spend some time remembering that God promises rest when I'm burdened. (Matthew 11: 28-29) Sometimes I just need to be still and know that God is God. Forget about the stress of everyday life, and just live. There will always be stress, but God is in control, not me. Thank goodness for that. So, during the next few stressful weeks of October, I hope to learn more about God. I won't sleep through it all, but I'll take each day one step at a time. Step one.

posted by Rachel Pede @ 12:06 AM   1 comments