Get a grip

During a health check-up, my doctor’s advice was to taper off stress because I reported a significant level of stress and lacked a plan to do something about it. It took a few days to sink in, and it was true. My stress level was quite high and I had yet to conceive a plan to reduce it.

Research led me to discover that stress isn’t produced by events themselves but by one’s reaction to events. One must manage his or her responses to stressors to bring down the fight-or-flight-impulses that drive our hormones into the forbidden zone. Sounded easy enough!

Okay, first, I had to beat deadlines, I decided, as I made a simultaneous resolution to get a Thai massage one day. Coupled with the competitive, lower rates spas and salons offer these days, a good muscle stretch certainly makes me feel less stressed. It’s amazing what simple things can accomplish.

Then my cell phone beeped. It was an account executive from the office. “Hi,” the text message read. “See you for our 8am coverage at Consolacion tomorrow. And please submit the subdivision launching article already for layout. Where is it?” I could feel her stress flowing from my cell phone and into my head.

Before I had time to intercept the stress hormones on their way to my thalamus, my cell phone rang. It was an eager interviewee with her stellar child, confirming a scheduled appointment. Ah, the media world and its erratic schedules. It can cause stress indeed, but it’s exhilarating…if you can handle it.

Office work is a haven for stress. Phones ring. Messages pile up. Entire coming weeks hover in mind, reeking with incidents. We wake up early and get into the traces like pack dogs, pulling a sled of duties until we are allowed to curl up and sleep for a few hours at the end of another grueling day.

Even reading our news headlines can cause stress. This is why, unlike the Hollywood scriptwriters strike, there can’t be a writers’ strike in the Philippines because there’s never a shortage of dramatic material. The news is literally everywhere. Last week, the nation was locked onto television sets for the Senate hearing on the revelations of Rodolfo Lozada Jr. on the ZTE Broadband deal. It’s a story that screams drama. It’s a political thriller, conspiracy drama, police action, gangland drama, and comedy – all at once, happening in our country. Couple that scoop with perpetual headlines on the government, the NPA and nationwide policies and our stress levels soar, as our faith in the government wavers ever so slightly.

Ah, I’m being a drama queen. I needed to talk to my stress counselor: My grandma. I called her up. Grandma had a lot of good, simple ideas for stress management: Like, take a breather every now and then. Or eat bit of my favorite (comfort) food. Exercise is awesome. Also, lighting a candle and watching the flame flicker could put me into a Zen-like state. Best of all, never procrastinate. Finish your work as soon as you can; never wait till the last minute.

That same day, after a couple of job assignments from opposite sides of the city, several platters of oily food and an armload of work later, I got home that night and plopped on my bed. I glanced at the desk in my room and eyed a press release I’ve been meaning to type and send…as well as several other assignments and press releases that screamed for attention. Uh-oh. I could feel my fight-or-flight muscles fibrillating.

But that night, rather than putting it off for another day, I typed all my pending work, emailed it all and in a few hours, I was done. Moments later, we had a brownout in the house and usually, that would’ve caused me much stress but after finishing the pending workload, a brownout didn’t affect me at all. I sat down calmly, lit a scented candle and stared into the middle distance as the flame flickered prettily. Almost magically, I could feel my stress abating. So this is what it feels like to not procrastinate.

Grandma was right. As the Chinese proverb goes, better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

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