When The Present Isn’t Rainbows & Sunshine
Researchers at Stanford and Harvard have recently reported that workplace stress is about as dangerous to one’s health as secondhand smoke. The peer-reviewed study was published in the journal Behavioral Science & Policy.
This brings us to one of the unsavory steps on our path to playing attention: honoring stress. Here are some common ones:
- Long working hours
- Work-family conflicts
- High job demands
- Low job control
I’m not sure where you are watching this right now, but wherever you are I encourage you to shout out your stress. Really scream it out if you can. If not, that’s OK. At the very least you can write it out because it’s so important to name it. For many of us, it is easier to engage in avoidance and pretend the stress isn’t there. But that only gets us so far.
Granted, that doesn’t mean we need to like it or even condone it. Instead, we are calling it out for what it is: part of our existence – yet not necessarily what completely defines who we are. This isn’t easy – and takes courage – but it’s worth it. As you’ll see, owning up to it is the first step to disowning it.