Will These Really Help Us Deal with Stress and Anxiety at Work?
Stress and anxiety occasionally - or maybe more than occasionally - visit us at work. Even the most organized and efficient of us have our moments when things don't turn out as we'd hoped. Or maybe the load's a bit more than we can handle. Or the boss has a bug that results in making our lives miserable.
The possible list, as you know, is long. Add to that list the fact that so many of us seem to be constantly busy, on the run, pressed for time, juggling work and home life - even when things are under control on the job.
For years I read and studied all sorts of books about improving my work life, my business skills, my interactions with others, and on down the line. I even listened to audios that tried to hammer in such nostrums as the Seven Habits of Successful Folks - or some such similar theme. So-called business, or "self-improvement" publications abound. For a spell, reading or listening to all I could get my hands on was almost an obsession.
Now there's nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself. And while some of my reads and listens were a waste of time, most offered some take-away that could be considered helpful.
The thing is, all the good habits, honed skills, best practices, etc., etc., didn't prevent stress and anxiety that come with the territory. So do we just put up with these when they come a-visiting?
You could do that. And unless they stay too long, are too intense - or you're just overly-sensitive - you'll likely survive, even thrive.
Or you could let your Catholic religion get to work and lend a hand. Yeah, it can really help us with stress and anxiety.
While I don't think this is included in those "Seven Habits" we referred to, prayer and meditation could be a good starting point. And not just an occasional "Ave" or "Pater Noster. We're talking about the habit of praying and, yes, the habit of meditating from time to time.
Now before you get back to your work load, give this some consideration. You don't have to be a monk or a saint to develop the habit of prayer. Habit just means "a regular practice." A developed habit is simply a habit that's hard to give up. We've all got habits we've developed over time. Heck, getting up on time to get to work's a habit. (At least it should be!) Maybe you've developed the habit of regular physical exercise. (Another "should ," don't you think?)
In any case, if you've not done so, develop the habit of regular prayer and see what happens. When you do, make that "regular" include your time at work. At the very least, you say grace when you eat lunch. But that's for amateurs. Get God into your work flow. Tackle your first task with a short prayer. You could do this all day, as you go from task to task. You can ask your Guardian Angel to help you communicate more effectively with others. (A cool practice is asking your Guarding Angel to talk to the Guardian Angel of whoever you need to communicate with. Maybe they can help you sort things out more effectively, more smoothly. This one's especially good when you're dealing with difficult people, but you can apply it anytime to anyone.)
As for what happens with the habit of prayer, and how that helps with stress and anxiety, common sense should tell you it's going to take the edge off things. Remember that prayer is simply talking to God. It doesn't have to be a formal thing like saying the Rosary. If you're talking to God from time to time, your not alone, not matter how stressful things get.
What about meditation? I'm not particularly good with this. I've tried different approaches at different times of the day. But there's one that I've used lately that seems to work pretty well. We'll post about it next time along with an extraordinarily pertinent spiritual work that's been highly recommended from so many sources I've lost count.
So to re-cap today's discussion, we really can apply prayer (and meditation too) to dealing with stress and anxiety at work. And here's a modest assessment of the results your likely to achieve, based on personal experience: Your stress and anxiety probably won't disappear, but they won't be such a big deal anymore.
The possible list, as you know, is long. Add to that list the fact that so many of us seem to be constantly busy, on the run, pressed for time, juggling work and home life - even when things are under control on the job.
For years I read and studied all sorts of books about improving my work life, my business skills, my interactions with others, and on down the line. I even listened to audios that tried to hammer in such nostrums as the Seven Habits of Successful Folks - or some such similar theme. So-called business, or "self-improvement" publications abound. For a spell, reading or listening to all I could get my hands on was almost an obsession.
Now there's nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself. And while some of my reads and listens were a waste of time, most offered some take-away that could be considered helpful.
The thing is, all the good habits, honed skills, best practices, etc., etc., didn't prevent stress and anxiety that come with the territory. So do we just put up with these when they come a-visiting?
You could do that. And unless they stay too long, are too intense - or you're just overly-sensitive - you'll likely survive, even thrive.
Or you could let your Catholic religion get to work and lend a hand. Yeah, it can really help us with stress and anxiety.
While I don't think this is included in those "Seven Habits" we referred to, prayer and meditation could be a good starting point. And not just an occasional "Ave" or "Pater Noster. We're talking about the habit of praying and, yes, the habit of meditating from time to time.
Now before you get back to your work load, give this some consideration. You don't have to be a monk or a saint to develop the habit of prayer. Habit just means "a regular practice." A developed habit is simply a habit that's hard to give up. We've all got habits we've developed over time. Heck, getting up on time to get to work's a habit. (At least it should be!) Maybe you've developed the habit of regular physical exercise. (Another "should ," don't you think?)
In any case, if you've not done so, develop the habit of regular prayer and see what happens. When you do, make that "regular" include your time at work. At the very least, you say grace when you eat lunch. But that's for amateurs. Get God into your work flow. Tackle your first task with a short prayer. You could do this all day, as you go from task to task. You can ask your Guardian Angel to help you communicate more effectively with others. (A cool practice is asking your Guarding Angel to talk to the Guardian Angel of whoever you need to communicate with. Maybe they can help you sort things out more effectively, more smoothly. This one's especially good when you're dealing with difficult people, but you can apply it anytime to anyone.)
As for what happens with the habit of prayer, and how that helps with stress and anxiety, common sense should tell you it's going to take the edge off things. Remember that prayer is simply talking to God. It doesn't have to be a formal thing like saying the Rosary. If you're talking to God from time to time, your not alone, not matter how stressful things get.
What about meditation? I'm not particularly good with this. I've tried different approaches at different times of the day. But there's one that I've used lately that seems to work pretty well. We'll post about it next time along with an extraordinarily pertinent spiritual work that's been highly recommended from so many sources I've lost count.
So to re-cap today's discussion, we really can apply prayer (and meditation too) to dealing with stress and anxiety at work. And here's a modest assessment of the results your likely to achieve, based on personal experience: Your stress and anxiety probably won't disappear, but they won't be such a big deal anymore.
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