Everyone knows that social workers are “super” women. If only you really felt like one. Right? “Super” women want to have it all. We want to be in a romantic relationship with our one true love. Our children should be happy, healthy, and whole. Work should be challenging yet satisfying. We desire to live a hero’s story that concludes with a happy ending. Unfortunately, all these desires require us to work extremely hard. In the end, we often find ourselves exhausted and unable to enjoy the story that we live.
This is the plight of the “super” woman who experiences the “super” woman syndrome. We envision a perfect life and strive to get it. However, perfection requires so much energy. As a result, we function close to burnout as our happy endings seem to fade.
For social workers, this feeling is sometimes magnified because we experience the stories of others. Happy endings are few in the circles we travel.
I created a series of experiences for the overwhelmed “super” woman so you can rejuvenate your mind, body, spirit, and soul and feel rested, relaxed, and refreshed as you give your family and your work everything you have. The Stress Talk Livestream is one of those experiences. It airs, live on Facebook and YouTube on Sundays at 4pm.
In the most recent episode, I discussed the 5 aspects of life that increase stress. Do any of these increase your stress levels?
Environment
MedicineNet.com defined environment as follows:
“The sum of the total of the elements, factors and conditions in the surroundings which may have an impact on the development, action or survival of an organism or group of organisms.”
Your environment includes the sights, sounds, smells, physical structures, emotional/mental aspects, actions, and interactions that you experience. It also includes major or minor situations and events. It is the space you occupy and where you breathe.
They way you act, interact, and react to the stimuli in your environment will influence the levels of stress you experience. When we talk about stress levels, we must also consider intensity and duration.
Mission
I opened discussing the vital nature of having a clear vision and mission for your life story. We covered this aspect in depth in January and February. Vision is the outline for the life story you desire. Having a clear vision allows you to develop a clear mission statement. The mission gives you direction and a road map to achieving the life story you envision.
A definitive mission statement provides a foundation for achieving and accomplishing your goals. It is a filter for your thoughts, feelings, actions, and behaviors. All that you do, think, feel, or believe must align with your mission statement. It enables you to decide what is important in your life. It also clarifies what you want others to say about you in the present and in the future.
Lacking a life story vision, clear mission statement, and goals is a recipe for overwhelming stress.
Mind
The mind is a powerful weapon in the “super” woman’s arsenal. It is also a key component in stress management. The type and tenor of thoughts you think daily contributes to the levels of stress you experience.
For example, when our thinking becomes distorted, it changes the way we view the reality of our situations. All or nothing thinking is one type of distortion. We know this as thinking there is no gray area. Focusing on the negative is another type of thought distortion. It discounts the positive in a situation. Personalizing causes you to think that you have caused the problem.
You have planned a dinner for some friends. They enjoyed the meal. The dessert did not set as you planned. You decided that the entire evening was ruined. This is all or nothing thinking. You also blamed yourself for not preparing the recipe right although you know that you followed the recipe as it was written. This is personalization. You focused entirely on the dessert that did not set well.
Here is the reality. The meal was exceptional according to your friends’ comments. They appreciated your effort. The dessert did not set because the person who gave you the recipe, left out an important step.
Your thoughts increased your stress and took some of the enjoyment away from the evening.
Movement
Stress is physical reaction. Movement is a valuable tool to counteract the physical effects of the stress response. When the stress response is active, our muscles tighten, heart beats harder and faster, and blood pressure increases. These are only a few of the changes that happen instantly. It takes a little longer to return to the natural level of functioning.
Movement allows us to release stress. We have been told to exercise at least 3 days a week, however, research is showing that movement throughout the day is highly effective. Stand, walk, stretch instead of sitting at a desk the entire day. Your body will feel great, and it will benefit your mind and mood.
Mood
Mood is a state of mind or how you feel at a certain time. It is fueled by our emotions. We show emotions with facial expressions. Others attempt to understand our mood by reading our faces. Tone of voice also provides clues to a person’s mood. Body posture and body language is another way to communicate our mood.
Mood affects stress levels. When we are happy, content, or satisfied, our stress levels will be lower. Sadness, anger, or anxiety will increase stress levels.
You can manage your stress by understanding the events or situations that impact your emotions or mood.
The story you want to live and that you want others to share about you is within your grasp. To do so, you need to understand the things that prevent you from reaching it. We will help you through the Re*U experience.
I created the Re*U experience for the overwhelmed “superwoman” so you can rejuvenate your mind, body, spirit, and soul and feel rested, relaxed, and refreshed as you give your family and your work everything you have. The REAL Social Workers Online Magazine is one part of that experience.