Coping with Stress

Economic challenges frequently lead to frustration. Coupling economic difficulties with the holidays overwhelms many people. Hearing that you need to be grateful at the same time you face a zero balance in your bank account, sometimes feels like the final straw.

Coping with drama in your life and devastation in your finances at the same time feels like the weight of Atlas on your shoulders. One of the best ways to manage the stress and remove Atlas from your shoulders is in doing something good for someone else. First, it diverts the attention from your own situation and second, it makes someone else feel good. No matter how dire our situation, someone has it worse.

Viktor Frankl comes to mind. His status changed from being a prominent German doctor, M.D and Ph. D, to living in a concentration camp. After the war, he wrote and spoke about his survival techniques. He committed himself to survival in order to tell the story. So many simply gave up hope and perished in those horrible circumstances. Somehow he managed to find beauty in his only meal of the day – a fish head floating in dirty water. Even though the Nazis’ did everything possible to break the spirit of the Jews, some survived. Viktor Frankl survived. His story, “Man’s Search For Meaning” was originally published in 1959 as “From Death-Camp to Existentialism.” Very few can even imagine the horror he endured. His story breathes hope into us today.

No matter what circumstances exist in our life today, nothing conceivable enters my mind which could possibly be worse. His coping mechanism was the determination to live in order to tell the story. My heart goes out to him and to all survivors of war and other tragedies.

We live in the greatest country in the world. No matter how strained the bank account may be at the moment, we always have hope. I just spent the Thanksgiving holiday with my son, daughter-in-law, and 2 adorable grandsons. Doug and I spoke briefly about how broke we were when he was little. There was not enough money for food, clothes or medical for my sons or myself. We made do. I remember buying scraps of leather at the fabric store and cutting out cowboy hats and other designs to place over the holes in the knees of their jeans. We took the little red wagon to walk to the grocery store rather than drive. Walking proved less expensive than gasoline. We made a game out of the experience. My coping mechanism was determination to stretch George, George Washington on the one dollar bill, until he provided basic needs.

Now we look at those days and they do not seem nearly as bad as they did to me at the time. As difficult as it was for us, we were in the lap of luxury in comparison to Viktor Frankl.

As minor inconveniences arise now, I look back and remember that we not only survived but came to thrive in the years which followed. This current economic situation will also pass as long as hope remains alive. Look at your life and determine where you find hope. Where do you find strength and peace and hope for the future. It truly exists, even on the darkest night. Remember that sunrise always follows even the darkest night. Find a ray of sunshine somewhere in your life to fan the flame of hope. As long as we live in America, there is always hope. If you happen to live in another country, allow us to lend you a spark of hope. Even the smile of a child or a loved one can yield a ray of hope. Maybe a moment looking out at the beauty of nature, a beautiful measure of music or the inspiring words of a book. Somewhere hope exists for all of us.

Someone begged Mother Theresa to let them help her. Her reply struck a chord in my heart. She told him to get up at 4 am. Go out on the streets of Phoenix and find someone living on the streets who believed he was alone; convince them they were not alone.

We can always do something to cheer someone else. In doing for others, we find hope for ourselves as well. Today do something good for someone else with the absolute knowing they could never repay you. Do a good deed just to be doing a good deed.

For a strong shoulder, more inspiration or a way up and out of difficulty, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com