At about 7.15pm that I returned home yesterday, I said to my wife, “I can’t remember being this tired for a long while.”
I had been on my feet for almost 14 hours, working at home, going out to look for properties, and eventually ending up at the mechanic’s workshop to fix the car, which I couldn’t bring back home because they couldn’t finish the needed repairs yesterday. And, I still had to stop at a pharmacy to buy medicine for a member of the family.
I trudged home with heavy feet, went straight to the bathroom, and THANKED GOD for cold water. I came out of the shower refreshed and landed on my supper voraciously, all the while THANKING GOD for the fan (THANK GOD for Light) blowing on me as I ate. ‘Ah, stress po ni ilu yi! Anu OLUWA la fin gbe Naija o!’
I decided to do a brief study on stress, and this is my finding:
In psychology, stress is a feeling of emotional strain and pressure. Stress is a type of psychological pain. Small amounts of stress may be beneficial, as it can improve athletic performance, motivation and reaction to the environment. Excessive amounts of stress, however, can increase the risk of strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, and mental illnesses, such as depression, and also aggravation of a pre-existing condition.
‘Psychological stress can be external and related to the environment, but may also be caused by internal perceptions that cause an individual to experience anxiety or other negative emotions surrounding a situation, such as pressure, discomfort, etc., which they then deem stressful.
Hans Selye proposed four variations of stress: on one hand, Good stress (eustress) and bad stress (distress); on the other, over-stress (hyperstress) and understress (hypostress). Selye advocates balancing these, and have as much eustress as possible. Medically defined, distress is a threat to the quality of life. It occurs when a demand vastly exceeds a person’s capabilities’ – Wikipedia
And, in NIGERIA, currently, ‘demand don exceed capabilities o! Abi, water never pass gari for Naija so?! Na GOD just dey SAVE us, dey HELP us, dey KEEP us going o! Na only GOD o!’ The only way to avoid distress in Nigeria is Proverbs 3:5-10. Make that Scripture your watchword.
Trust in the LORD absolutely, and He shall deliver you from everything stressing you now, in JESUS MIGHTY NAME.
Amen!
DA