Are You Living with Stress or Tension?

"Your body is an amazing creation, capable of performing great wonders, but you can destroy that miraculous machine's potential with an overdose of stress."

Alan Cleaver / Foter / CC BY

Stress is defined as the wear and tear of mind, body and spirit caused by changes in our inner and outer environment, whether it be our thoughts, emotions, or outside physical activities.

Tension is defined as the energy that creates the possibility of moving toward desired results. Life without tension is like a bowl of soup without any salt. The right amount of tension is needed. Excessive tension will commonly manifest itself as fatigue, or a constant sense of exhaustion.

Let's choose to reduce our excessive tension, or stress, and increase our potential and achievement. Here are some tips:

Plan your days and your life – it is so much easier to remain calm and focused if you know what you want to accomplish each day and where you are going with your life.

Exercise at least 30 minutes each day - the best cure for tension fatigue is exercise and the best form of exercise is simply walking.

Get enough sleep - make sure you know what your ideal amount of sleep time is and then make it a priority.

Be aware of what you are putting into your body - eat nutritious foods and take your time when eating.

Eliminate procrastination so things don't pile up - use the previously discussed "do it now" technique for this.

Just like in everything, you have a choice to make: use tension to your advantage or let stress exhaust you. Which will you choose?

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Post inspired by the Ultimate Success Program and Og Mandino's University of Success.

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