The Spectrum of Stress
When we have feelings of stress, we may not deal with them properly. Instead, we often let stress influence our day and allow it to become a seemingly inescapable form of worry. This free stress test exercise will give you a practical tool to deal with stressful situations when it’s most appropriate and useful to do so.
Firstly, write a list of all the issues that are currently causing you stress in our survey. List as few or as many as you like. Once you have your list, classify these stresses as indicated below. If you have a problem that requires immediate attention you should act as soon as possible, or at least set aside a specific time for action and make a note of it. This kind of stress is avoidable – you need to set priorities and handle each issue in turn.
The second category includes all the sources of stress that need clarification. A great deal of stress comes from human relationships and is frequently the result of misunderstanding. In some ways this kind of stress is avoidable because you may be able to take action. However it can also be unavoidable because we cannot control other people. You can get clarity by observing, questioning and by using non-thinking approaches.
The third category of stress is unavoidable. For example, if a family member is ill and in hospital there is nothing that you, as an individual, can do to change this. However, you can develop a new way of approaching such situations with the help of the non-thinking, observing and questioning approaches outlined in this course.