Dear LPG,

A couple of weeks ago I started looking forward again and as a result I have learnt that tomorrow will be National Stress Awareness Day.

We all get stressed at one point or another in our modern, complicated lives and I think that many more of us must be stressed after the year we have been through, although some of us deal with it more easily than others.   I am not sure what the official action to take on such a day is but I think that the last person to notice the signs of stress can often be the person who is suffering from the condition.  So, today might be a good day to make sure that you are reasonably content with your own life in preparation for the big day.

Are you finding yourself worrying about any particular aspect of your life?  Is there some project that you would like to take on but can’t for some reason, or perhaps lockdown has left you bored and seeing little to look forward to?   The internet can offer many agencies and organisations where stressed people can get help but so many of us don’t want to make it official and often shy away from going for the help offered in this way, and I always get the feeling that much of what is offered is geared towards people much younger than us.

 Arguably, we older folk are relatively lucky because we are less likely to have a job to lose, although an argument with a family member, or good friend that you think is passed repair can be a trigger, and another classic stress trigger has to be not being able to realise an ambition that you always thought that ultimately you would.  I always think that the first rule of any stressful situation is identifying the cause of your discontent, and perhaps today is the day to analyse it, and to start working out how to fix it. 

So, can I suggest that you telephone that friend or family member having prepared what you want to say (I would go for the truth). If you don’t think that that will work, there is always the letter, email or text.  If there is something you want to do, but can’t see how you are going to achieve it, start by working out what you can do to get a little closer to your goal and just take the first step. 

I also think that the thing that we are all guilty of doing is keeping our concerns and worries to ourselves.  Perhaps today is a day to get an objective view

to be continued…

PW, Bellingham

LPG offers a little of what the internet has to say on this subject…

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