Friday, February 9, 2018

The External-caused stress

I think there are two types of stress I experience.  The one I experience more frequently is when I don't perform well on a test and I begin to panic about my grades.  Or when I say something I didn't mean to say to a friend, and I can't stop thinking about how to make it up to them.  Or when I have a lot of stuff on my list to do that I end up freaking myself out because I'm afraid I can't get everything done. 

The stress I experienced this past week has been a different kind of stress.  It's the kind where I'm not the one in control.  In the other examples, it was my fault, my duty, or my responsibility that I failed to meet.  The type of stress I felt this week, or probably more realistically these past two days, have been out of my control.  They have been what I'm now calling external-caused stress.  Many things I was stressed about where out of my control.  For example, I did all the work on my art class and created a product, but someone else simply did a better job than me in creating a different version of a similar product.  This stressed me out in the sense that I wanted to be as good as they were, even though I had completed the work.  And then yesterday, some people said some things that wasn't worded in the most diplomatic way that caused me some anxiety.

I have yet to identify more areas of stress.  But as for external-caused stress, I'm striving to manage it better by realizing that I'm doing my best.  I can't control what other people do or say to me either, nor can I control what other people think of me.  I think external-caused stress may be me over stressing about things I do not need to think about.  I'm going to try to remember that this upcoming week.


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