Reorganize: using hardy health habits to conquer your stress (Conquering Your Stress With the Five R's)

Reorganize: using hardy health habits to conquer your stress (Conquering Your Stress With the Five R's)

Reorganize is based on developing a healthier lifestyle as a defense against stress by making you more hardy and stress-resistant. It is a lifestyle-based approach rather than a strategy-based approach to coping with stress. Hardiness revolves around the daily use of hardy health practices. Examples of hardy health practices range from regular exercise to taking time to reflect on what others have done for you. When you make hardy health habits a daily priority, not only does your lifestyle change, your personality also changes. Practicing hardy health habits and living a healthy lifestyle are key components of a comprehensive stress management program. As you reorganize your lifestyle you try to continually move toward optimal functioning in the physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, occupational, and environmental dimensions of your health by engaging in hardy health practices daily. A key to understanding this is realizing that the journey, or the process of moving toward optimal functioning, is as important as the results you achieve. When you intentionally move towards optimal functioning you strive to gain more control over and responsibility for your health. Enjoy the time you spend doing this. Don’t try to rush the process and injure yourself. As you improve your level of functioning, you will develop more reserve energy and confidence in your ability to stay well and cope with stress. Be patient and forgiving in this journey towards optimal functioning. You are human, you will face setbacks. A key to understanding this is realizing that to be human is to sometimes give in to temptation and eat or drink too much or over-extend you. A big part of reorganize involves intentionally reorganizing your thoughts as well as your behavior, becoming more logical in your thinking about these setbacks. They are not the end of the world and engaging in them does not make you a bad person. You begin to realize that you are not perfect (nor do you need to be), and you allow yourself these imperfections without excess guilt, shame, or anger. You lighten up and tell yourself, "It is OK there will be days when I backslide and engage in behaviors that are not conducive to high-level health. The important thing is my overall direction. I'm making progress and moving in the right direction."