Valentine Gift: Give Stress the Day Off

Summary: Red roses, dark chocolate, or a shiny new car are great gifts for the special day to celebrate love. However, if you give stress the day off, you give the best gift, you being fully present. That’s the best present of all.

Even on the best of days, stress can prevent you from being focused and ready to join in with those you care about.

You all know that too much stress can lead to burnout, disengagement, and strained relationships.

Valentines Day is to be full of love, fun, and delight. What gets in the way?

Most importantly, I have a question for you. Is stress an individual problem with individual solutions? Or do you see stress as an interactive process that certainly includes others? 

One more question. Do your personal relationships cause you more upset? Or are your work connections what cause you to shout out upset or stuff it down?

How do you stay positive when stress hits the hot button?

Welcome to today’s world of constant stress. 

I was scrolling on Facebook, and I saw something that made me laugh. Those who remember the movie “Back to the Future” will get this. The rest of you, watch this classic film and enjoy. 

That is to say; the whole trilogy is pretty brilliant. Thank you, Steven Spielberg. 

In the film, there’s a scene where the wild-haired doctor goes to the future, comes back, meets Marty McFly, and wild-eyed, he says, “Marty, don’t go to 2020 or 2021.” He may have to add 2022 since we are still waiting to see how this year turns out. So, there you have it.

Indeed, we all still have to get on the other side of Covid. We also have to hope that we can have more fun being with each other once we finish with the virus 

In other words, we’ll get through this, and we will be the better for it. We can learn from it and create new living and working together.

The stress of present-day living is foremost on everyone’s mind.

Remote or hybrid working is now more of the norm than just a thought. 

Likewise, parents are finding different ways of caretaking their children. Some are joining groups to keep expenses down. Similarly, online dating sites are flourishing. And Zoom makes a difference in talking with loved ones far away.

Another point of interest. The latest news says roses, boxes of chocolates, and even jewelry are way up in price due to supply chain issues.

Therefore, you may want to consider a new kind of caring gift for Valentine’s Day this year. 

The impact of stress on personal relationships is vast.

In the past few weeks, I received a lot of questions that all sound similar. 

For example, many want to know how to cope and maintain positive interpersonal relationships in an environment at home or work that doesn’t seem very pleasant. 

Another is: I want to figure out why my life partner (or whoever) is always so short with me but nice to other people. 

As I looked for the common denominator, they are all about relationships. 

Therefore, it’s about relationships at home, at work, relationships in our community, and the most important relationship with ourselves.

Relationships and stress are super connected. 

I want to give you this way to think about relationships. We are always individuals-in-interaction! Yet, we often forget to put this in context.

Firstly, we are born from a relationship. Yes, a male and a female get together, and y’all know what can happen. On the other hand, we have different creation methods, with invitro and surrogates. Yet, it still takes an egg and a sperm to produce a kid. 

Consequently, consider the fact that we’re born from a relationship. 

Next, we are birthed through a relationship. Every woman who has children knows that one. There is, hopefully, cooperation between this infant baby, about to be born, and the mother. This process of birth is tricky and complicated.

Somebody’s there to assist the baby. Then the baby goes to a nurse or the mother. Finally, we’re born from a relationship through a relationship into a relationship.

I’m just saying the natural progression is from a relationship through a relationship into a relationship. 

You must be present to give the best presents. 

Relationships never go away.

So, we have to learn, understand and do a deeper dive into the power of relationships. 

That’s what my work is all about. That’s what “Invisible Stress (It’s NOT What YOU Think!)” is all about

Watching my father, I knew that work and excessive stress were the enemies. He was unhappy and complained about the tension at his work setting all the time. How we handle today’s stress, we learned as little kids. 

Above all, I had to learn to handle stress. You don’t have to fight or be angry all the time. 

So, remember what I just said, we are born from a relationship through a relationship into a relationship. After that, of course, we have that relationship with ourselves. 

Your inner world dictates how you respond to the outer world.

Most importantly, there is that inner world in which we also live. The inner world dictates how we respond to the outer world. 

Therefore, it is vital to understand what pushes your buttons what makes you so upset if somebody says something to drive you into the red hot zone.

Well, that’s going to take some work. 

In the meantime, think about the best Valentine’s Day gift you can give. 

You and only you can keep stress less and care more.

Above all, it is YOU. 

You are present, making sure you handle your stress with dignity and grace. Listen to others, share from a genuine place, and show you care. It means more than any physical gift you can offer. 

Yes, it’s all about relationships. We’re here to make this world a better place, and we’re here to get through this time. Even though it’s complicated, let’s give each other the gift of being present. We can all grow and move on during this time of a pandemic.

Here’s to your success,

Sylvia

PS. Enjoy this video along with the blog. Have a unique Valentine’s.