Law of Balance

I would say the main thing that I struggle with when it comes to stress is grades, and therefore that is my shadow.  What goes through my mind is “How will I be perceived by others whether it is my teachers, friends, or family.”  The times I get stressed the most is during finals because not only is my plate piled high with homework and studying but then I also get overwhelmed by how it will affect my grade and GPA. Which therefore contributes to what people might think of me.  For me to be able to handle my shadow of stress I have to be able to step back and realize that grades aren’t everything.  Life still goes on and it doesn’t determine life or death or even my success in life.

There is 3 different ways to deal with stress according to Deluse article about stress.  The first way to deal with stress or your shadow is to face it head on, or the “Silver Bullet” method.  It is to admit that you have a problem or stressor that is harmful to you.  Next you make a game plan on how you are going to defeat or minimize the stress you feel from the situation.  The second strategy in defeating stress and is the one I use is emotion-focused coping.  You try to find the silver lining in something that is happening.  You “reframe or reinterpret the issues to see what good can come of it” (Deluse).  The third and last way is Proactive Coping.  So in the first two strategies you are responding to an issue that’s already happened but in this strategy you are being proactive and building up defenses against possible stressful issues to come.  A great example the article used was if you hear about your company struggling and start to lay people off.  A defensive strategy you can do is to start networking and even send out your resume for other jobs so that if you get laid off you can have a head start to finding a new job.