Stress is that thing you cannot see but feel. In a nutshell, it is a mental or physical response to an external cause. Stress can arise from many different areas of your life.\u00a0Some things in your life you know will give you stress, no guessing, no surprise.\u00a0Some examples are financial issues, or an older car with bald tires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stress can also come out of nowhere as well.\u00a0 The unexpected bill, or the car breaking down at the absolute worst time. Being prepared and understanding these feelings can help reduce the impacts of stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John F. Kennedy characterized stress as a \u201cdangerous opportunity<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0He also said, \u201cThose who are best prepared will survive, and even prosper.\u00a0Those who are not prepared will find that which they hold most precious in dire jeopardy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what is stress? Stress can be defined as a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. Stress can host a wide range of responses, but ultimately, it results in an upset in the homeostasis of the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress can be considered our reaction to what we live, see, hear, eat, dream, and what we are. So, this makes one ponder, is all stress bad?\u00a0The simple answer is no; eustress is a moderate or normal psychological stress interpreted as being beneficial.\u00a0This type of \u201cgood stress\u201d comes from pushing oneself towards a goal.\u00a0This type of stress has a significantly positive correlation with life satisfaction, hope, and survival.\u00a0Setting a goal and running a marathon could be considered eustress.\u00a0Or, for me, running a couple of miles will accomplish the same effect.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStress should be a powerful driving force, not an obstacle.\u201d\u00a0– Bill Phillips<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n An example I like to think of for different kinds of stress is golf and working out.\u00a0I find I cannot sleep well the night before golf, just dreaming of all the amazing shots, being hoisted in the air by my friends after shooting the course record.\u00a0On the contrary, for my work out, I typically dread getting to the gym and making it happen.\u00a0But I can speak for myself and tell you an opposite unexpected effect occurs for each of these examples.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I get on the golf course and double bogie the first hole, lose two balls on the second hole and start a downward spiral to a personal record-breaking high score, it becomes a self-induced stressful event.\u00a0Three-foot putts become knee-knocking, blood pressure rising affairs.\u00a0I sometimes leave the course wondering why I spent good money to feel so bad.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, I do not look forward to the gym and even find myself making excuses as to why I cannot make an appearance. You know, excuses such as \u201cIt\u2019s sunny,\u201d or \u201cIt might rain sometime this week\u201d or my favorite, \u201cI got a paper cut, better not risk it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have found once I drag myself to the gym and get my old body going, I feel so much better.\u00a0I leave feeling less stressed, less worried, and overall, just better about myself.\u00a0I found I am concentrating on the music and the workout itself and not my work, home life, or any other stress-producing events.\u00a0My mind is focused on the workout and not the million other things consuming my day. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the best ways to reduce stress is to accept the things you cannot control\u201d\u00a0– M.P. Neary\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I find it amazing how much we stress over the things we cannot control.\u00a0If you find yourself stressing over other people\u2019s problems, it might be time to make a list.\u00a0This list should have two columns, one with the title, can control, and the other with cannot control.\u00a0Under those titles, list what is in your power, under your control, and then what is totally not under your control.\u00a0Examine that list and become at peace with letting go of the list not under your control.\u00a0Those things are not worth your stress, time, or energy.\u00a0Let it go.\u00a0Actually, writing this list has a magical therapeutic result and may reveal something that was bothering you that you didn\u2019t even realize.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was once told, \u201cOther people\u2019s opinions of me are none of my business.\u201d\u00a0With that in mind, I took the mindset that I would not worry about what others think.\u00a0All I can do is all I can do, and if I am doing my best, then that is what it is, and I must let the rest go.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are different levels of stress as well. Distress is excessive stress which can lead to mental and physical strain or suffering.\u00a0This could also be considered critical incident stress. This is the type of stress that overwhelms our normal coping abilities.\u00a0This type of stress stems from events where an individual experiences or witnesses tragedy, death, serious injuries, or threatening situations.\u00a0This can be at work or at home.\u00a0The good news is normally the effects are short-term.\u00a0Understand this, no one is immune.\u00a0If you have been in the security business for a while, you might find yourself dismissing these sources of stress.\u00a0You might simply accept them and don\u2019t acknowledge the effect that they have on us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout your career, you will spend an above-average amount of time in a hypervigilance state of mind.\u00a0You have the stress of always watching, listening, and being in a state of readiness for crime or violence.\u00a0The thought of being injured or killed by criminals is something that can weigh heavily on your mind, thus producing stress.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the world of security, you may be encountering hostile and inflammatory individuals, thus the constant state of hypervigilance. You must repress and restrain several natural emotional responses that might occur in these situations and remain professional. The continual effort to smother these emotional responses can be stressful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe truth is that stress doesn\u2019t come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about your circumstances.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Andrew Bernstein<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, let\u2019s talk about stress immunity. Preparing yourself with knowledge and solutions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to identify your areas of repetitive stress and develop a plan to build better resiliency, coping skills, and a plan of attack to manage that stress. Be smart enough and strong enough to realize sometimes you might need help.\u00a0That may be a friend, family member, or possibly a mental health professional.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMental health awareness doesn\u2019t mean fighting stress, anxiety, depression and other everyday mental health issues, rather it means consciously modulating the habits, instead of checking your habits, you would automatically be in a much better shape, both mentally and physically.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Abhijit Naskar<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a security team, we must \u201cbe there\u201d for each other.\u00a0You work closely with your partners.\u00a0Be comfortable talking with a colleague who might be calling in sick a lot, depressed, negative, or complaining about everything.\u00a0 Have that conversation to see if they are okay.\u00a0Sometimes, all we need is an ear to listen, be it a friend or a professional.\u00a0 Also, if you have golf tips, I am still looking for that course record.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 988 is a 24\/7 lifeline to help you or a loved one in distress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stress is that thing you cannot see but feel. In a nutshell, it is a mental or physical response to an external cause. Stress can arise from many different areas of your life.\u00a0Some things in your life you know will give you stress, no guessing, no surprise.\u00a0Some examples are financial issues, or an older car […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8085,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights","category-training"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Cara Fallon","author_link":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/author\/carafallon\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8090"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tricorps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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