Riding the Stress Wave

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. (Exodus 14:14)

Stress is an interesting nemesis. To rest my brain, I sometimes take a few minutes and play a couple of hands of solitaire on my phone. I’ll be humming along when, all of a sudden, I will make a mistake. Instead of slowing down, I often panic and miss another card, and I’ve messed the game up complexly. Stress multiplies our mistakes, often making them worse than the original mistake that got us worked up in the first place. Psychologist William James has a helpful quote, “the greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” I should choose to stop and evaluate before compounding my errors.

Thomas Oppong, in his article “The Greatest Weapon Against Stress-William James,” offers several helpful quotes on the subject. Oppong quotes Jon Kabat-Zinn, who recommends, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” Stopping long enough to reevaluate and not compounding mistakes is a way of surfing the waves of stress. We can ride the waves and subdue the stress just by acknowledging its presence and stopping long enough to reorganize our thoughts and slow down to regain mental control.

Today, take the time to practice riding the wave. First, a good stress surfer stops and assesses their feelings. The surfer is not humiliated or embarrassed by mistakes but seeks the learning mistakes offer. Finally, the surfer slows down and takes responsibility for their thoughts. The surfing process is challenging, and no one rides the waves without many tumbles. Pray daily for the faith and wisdom necessary to become a good stress surfer. The more you master riding the wave, the more trusting you will be with yourself and God.