Stress on Your Mind? Don't Worry About it!

            Last week in class we discussed the levels of control we had on our stress. After rating the different aspects of our lifestyle, I noticed that eating, time management, and exercising were my lowest rated at about 7. Overall, I do not feel I am a stressed out person—I have been brought up to not allow myself to become so, with a philosophy of “everything always works out in the end”. Nonetheless, there have been many instances where I may find myself being lethargic or just apathetic towards things. This semester, I have been eating quite healthy; more fruits and vegetables and less late-night snacking. I have seen a dramatic improvement in my overall health. For one thing, I am never tired during the day! I wake up at about 7:30/8:00 am daily and am ready to go even having slept at around midnight or one in the morning. It is truly a great feeling, because I am able to get more done. NOTE: I am ABLE to, which doesn’t mean that I actually DO get more done. So, this past week, I forced myself to take the initiative and actually work more and follow a schedule, which so far has not been as difficult as I imagined. Like right now as I write this blog post, I can easily be sleeping or playing Ruzzle, but I know that tomorrow I will appreciate myself for having written this. More interestingly enough is that I have noticed by becoming better at managing my time, exercising and eating healthy are easier to do too. By not wasting time during the day, I find the time to exercise, and when I exercise I feel more comfortable to eat healthy. These good feelings make my overall disposition more energetic and friendly, and well, happier. I would have never imagined that even such a small change of adjusting thirty minutes in my day can change my life. I re-rated myself today, and ended up seeing a higher satisfaction level with all the other stressors in my life that didn’t change, even the ones I could not control. This experiment has amazed me, but I don’t think I will leave this experience as just something I tried for ANTH 249; it’s a good lifestyle change to adhere to. Thus, I shall continue to maintain low levels of stress and high levels of satisfaction amongst all stressors in my life for as long as I can, because I most definitely have witnessed and have enjoyed my results. If anything, I will try changing my attitude or behavior to other stressors I face such as sleeping and studying. Only time will tell!