It might have seemed a pointless exercise at first to explore the causes of stress as it seems so obvious when you are stressed. It is ‘that’ or ‘them’ – but ‘me?’ Never!
You will tend to think of yourself as a victim suffering at the hands of uncaring, thoughtless ‘others’ or perhaps caught up in an irrational, disorganised, broken world that cannot be understood or controlled. Do you despair? Get angry? Want to curl up in a ball and hide?
This is an entirely understandable reaction but to get on top of stress it is helpful to understand where stresses come from – and this last section has been an attempt to provide you with a ‘road map’ to help you explore your situation, experiences and background.
I wonder if you have found some of it overwhelming or confusing. Was there just too much information? Too many new ideas to explore?
As always take it slowly. Stop when you have had your fill and take time to digest your new findings. Explore some topics in detail but leave others for later as you do not yet know how to process them or because they are too painful.
That is fine. Dealing with stress is stressful so pace yourself and take on only as much as you can cope.
Are you still regularly doing the relaxation exercises and visiting your oases of calm? Great! Sorry for nagging but they are very helpful in controlling the feelings that stress causes and repeated reminders are an important tool for implanting and fixing new habits.
When you are ready, move on to the next section that focuses on the management of stress.