A few words about stress

Serenity is sitting on the crest of hill with a clear blue sky above rarely graced by cloud, with the sun shining down, a cool breeze gently flowing over you.  The grass on the hillside bristling lightly, buttercups dancing in the wind, their yellow petals shining brilliantly.  There is no-one around for miles, no structures stand in sight.  All you can see are green fields sprawling out reaching the horizon, with rows of trees in misshapen grids.  In the distance birds sing, and as you sit you breathe in deep and slow and exhale with a soft sigh. 

Finding a point of reflection, where you can sit and bring yourself to peace and serenity just for a while, this is something I try to do.  I wouldn't call it meditation, as I don't sit in any particular position such as lotus, and I don't engage in breathing exercises to try and bring about a relaxed state.  I've explored meditation before and it never really did anything for me.  What I try to do with visualisation is to find a moment where I can rest and "reset" in an effort to find new energy within myself to begin again.

This is what works for me, but the concept remains the same.  Try to find something that allows you to distract yourself for a moment each day.  Something that allows you to think of nothing of consequence.  Be it through music, movie, visualisation, or even through physical activity.

When stress rises and the things that burden us grow heavy, the most important thing to remember is to stop and breathe every now and then.  It's easy to see a mountain of work, throw yourself into it, and work until you find yourself exhausted and simply want to sleep.  Doing this won't make you more productive.  When we study in school, and we learn about revision techniques for exams it's a common piece of advice to take regular breaks, yet this advice which we hear when we are in school is something which we don't carry over into our personal and professional lives as we grow older.  The way we treated exam times which were the most stressful times for students, is the way we should treat our lives when we feel stressed.  Never underestimate the power of structure, organisation, routine, and most importantly rest.