Stress Fighter tip #6: Don’t tangle with the fly strip.
One day as I was doing something in my office I was so pre-occupied with my task at hand that I wasn’t paying attention to outside elements.
Elements such as the sticky fly strip I hung up to catch flies. Before I knew it my forehead was the object captured by the sticky substance.
Quickly grabbing for it soon my entire right arm was covered with its residue and then my left arm. The more I grabbed for the fly paper the more entangled in its mess I got.
Even trying to get it in the garbage can was an adventure all its own. Suddenly I was becoming one with the garbage sack and everything else that got in the way.
Stressful situations seem to feel that way, don’t they?
One day as you’re going through life not paying attention to outside elements suddenly you meet up with stress. It sticks to you like fly paper and the more you try to get away the more entangled in it you can get.
If not properly handled, we do get more and more trapped by the residue stress comes with. It is a trap to capture and kill us emotionally and spiritually if not physically if we aren’t careful.
We may temporarily get ourselves caught in it but we don’t have to become entangled in it to the point it has an opportunity to do its damage.
At the end of my dance with the fly paper the worst I had to deal with was the sticky mess it left behind.
A good jar of peanut butter and a quick shower took care of that. It’s so important to recognize stress for what it is and what it tries to do to us. When we can do that it becomes easier to avoid its sticky trap and free ourselves from the hold it can have on us long before it gets its chance.
Instead of being warned to not tangle with the fly strip of stress, once we learn how to deal with stress the tables will turn and stress better not tangle with us. Stress happens but we don’t have to allow ourselves to get entangled in it. To fight it off in a panic mode or allow it to back us into a corner where we stay in a fetal position.
Believe it or not, every moment in life passes including stressful ones.
What often stays behind is the sticky residue of the actions we took when we were trying to deal with life. I must say I wish my cancer was one of those things that were eventually going to pass but its not. It’s here to stay and it can be very stressful but I have to make the decision to not allow myself to get so entangled in the pain and fear of it that I bind myself up into something I didn’t need to tangle with in the first place.
It’s vital to remember when we do find ourselves caught, to apply a little peanut butter of strength, hope, and courage. Each one serving as a good sticky substance remover that works wonders to do away with the residue. After which all we have to do is wash it away for good via a good attitude and outlook in life as we move forward.
Moving forward beats dancing with the fly strip of stress any day.
Read more posts by Karen Gillett here. Karen blogs for JenningsWire.
