Beauty, Body, Boys!
DON’T WORRY! BE HAPPY!
By: Erin Bloss
As a high school senior, the end of the year holds so much for me. Activities such as prom, graduation, and starting college are finally just around the corner! I’ve been looking forward to these things since I started high school! Everyone tells me this is supposed to be the best time of my life, so what could possibly go wrong?
Unfortunately, these momentous events in any student’s life can be easily ruined by STRESS. Stress causes us to lose focus, and be distant, moody, and inefficient. And when you’re feeling this way, it’s hard to enjoy your best friend’s graduation party.
However, it isn’t just us seniors getting stressed out. Everyone gets stressed out at one point or another, whether you’re in seventh grade or you’re seventy-seven. But doesn’t it seem the teenage years just take stress to a whole new level? According to About.com, teenage stress is commonly caused by:
- Taking on too many tasks
- School (homework, extracurricular activities, teachers, etc.)
- Friends (peer pressure, drama, relationships)
- Family (siblings, divorce, death of a relative)
- Personal (self-image, loneliness, impossible expectations)
I’ve always been told that stress in small amounts can be healthy. It keeps you focused on tasks and what needs to be done. However, when it comes to teenagers, we seem to blow everything out of proportion and our stress ends up hurting us and others. So how can we stop stressing and learn to relax?
What I like to do when I get stressed is to get in my car, turn on the radio, and drive around town. While this may not be so easy on my gas budget, there’s something about driving that calms me down. Another thing that helps me is getting together with my friends. I remember on the morning of my SAT’s, I met up with some friends at a local restaurant and we had a big breakfast before going to take the test. I know that hanging out and having fun was much easier on me than doing any last minute cramming.
Elizabeth Scott wrote about some other good ways to help with stress in her article “25 More of the Top Stress Relievers.” Here are just a few examples:
- Learn to just say NO! Take the time to focus on your priorities
- Take a walk or exercise
- Take a nap
- Cook your favorite meal, or buy yourself a special treat
- Journal
- Watch aquarium fish (watching fire or lighting somecandles also helps!)
- And don’t forget to…PRAY
As a Christian, I was surprised to see that a secular columnist suggested prayer as a good way to relieve stress. However, we know that there is nothing more soothing than taking all your problems to your Best Friend. Remember, just because we’re Christians doesn’t mean that we’re just supposed to think that all we have to do is trust in God more and all our worries will magically go away.
God reminds us that we will always have worries and trials (James chapter 1). But instead of freaking out over the small things, we can use our stress as a positive reminder that we need to get back in touch with God. In fact, God loves it when we go to Him with our problems. In Matthew 11:28-30 of the The Message God says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
Keep company with me and you’ll learn how to live freely and lightly.” So the next time you have a big test, or your little sister is raiding your closet again, just remember that you only make things worse by stressing out. Take it all to God, and then let it go, turn up the volume on your radio, and keep an eye on your aquarium.
in every life we have some trouble,
when you worry you make it double
don't worry, be happy
--Bobby McFerrin
(Philippians 4:6-7/ Matthew 6:8b, 31-34/ Psalm 42:5, 8/ Psalm 138:3/ Proverbs 3:5-6)
