Let’s face it – most all of us could use some help with managing stress.
When it comes right down to it, most of us don’t understand the depth of the stress we’ll be facing when SHTF.
The only people who have a pretty good idea are those that have been in war, or maybe survived through a natural disaster. However, the rest of us can only fathom what life will be like – and what we’ll be like – when facing that kind of pressure.
Despite this, all of us can relate with stress in some fashion. Whether it’s from work, school, family life, or something different, we all know what it’s like to feel stress. And, unless we learn to manage it effectively now, we’re not going to be able to manage it later, either.
Sure, “the American way” teaches us to simply shut down and soldier on. However, many of us who’ve tried that know how this line of thinking cuts us off from others and our own emotions, and ends up biting us big time later on when we can no longer contain it.
It’s easy to think thoughts like, “I’ll know what to do when the time comes” and “I’ll make the right decision when I need to.” The truth is, we’ll only be as effective later as we are in practicing for it today. And that includes stress management.
You can’t control what happens to you in a major crisis. However, what you CAN control is how you choose to deal with it. That’s why it’s important to remember these…
Survival Tips: Managing Stress When SHTF
First, it’s important to recognize the enormous toll that stress can have on the body. Few people understand the mental and physical toll this can take on the body. Watch the short video below to learn just how much stress is impacting your daily life:
Ways That You Can Healthily Cope With Stress
Now that we know the extensive toll that stress can have on your entire body, it’s time to ask ourselves how we can cope with stress in our everyday lives. After all, as the video said, we’re going to encounter stressful situations throughout our entire life. However, what matters to our brain and body is how we cope with these circumstances.
Change Your Perception
As the video said, one of the best ways to overcome stress is to change our perception of the event facing us. If we can see the stressful situation as an event that we have control over and can manage (rather than as an intimidating mountain we can’t overcome), we are much more likely to take a proactive stance, feel less like a victim, and are more likely to act in a responsive, positive, and take forward-moving action.
Grab Some Consoling Items To Help You Destress
You can store some items in your bug out bag that help you calm down, change your perspective, and help you release stress. Some ideas include:
- Religious Items (such as a Bible, a cross necklace, or other religious texts/items that remind you of a higher power)
- Music (make sure to keep calming music on a rechargeable music player)
- Memories Of Home (i.e: heirlooms, letters, pictures of family or your favorite pet)
- A Good Book (i.e: a beloved children’s book, or a fantasy series you can get lost in and forget your stress)
- Games (i.e: gaming apps on your phone, board games, card games, toys)
Daily Habits That Can Decrease Stress
Coping with stress effectively isn’t just a “one and done” thing – it takes a lot of practice. Here are a few daily habits you can incorporate into your routine to help you deal with stress in a healthy way:
Exercise
Exercise has the phenomenal ability to help you fight depression, lower stress levels, and decrease anxiety. And, the good news is you don’t need an expensive gym membership to take advantage of it.
Whether you’re in the middle of your living room or in the center of a SHTF situation, you can always get in a good workout if you’ve got a little creativity.
Here’s some examples of workouts you can do that require no gym, weights, or equipment. These are also made for small spaces, so “limited space” is no longer an excuse.
Get Your Routine Down
Humans love routines. It helps keep us focused, organized, and ready for the day. It also gives us a sense of pattern and control (two things we also love).
One of the best ways to cope with stress is to regain a sense of control and a feeling of “taking back your life”. You can do this by forming a new routine for yourself. By making intentional decisions and sticking to them, these become habits, which later form your routine. This way, when the world is falling apart, your routine will help you feel a sense of steadiness and control.
In addition, intentionality is key when choosing the things to add into your new daily routing. For example, these can consist of making decisions like eating healthy food rather than crap, exercising rather than sitting on the couch, and making better, intentional decisions rather than doing things out of habit or just because you “feel like it.”
If you continually make positive improvements for yourself, these will slowly begin to be familiar, and you’ll later end up doing them out of habit without even thinking about it. And that’s a really good thing.
First, recognize what’s making you feel out of whack. Then, figure out a healthy way to cope with it or to improve upon it (i.e: if you’re feeling fat and lazy, get up and go for a walk, or clean the kitchen). This will help you regain a sense of purpose and control over your life, and will help you get back in the action rather than just sitting on the sidelines.
