What do you do if you’re driving and a warning light comes on, signalling you’re short of petrol?

Ignore it and press harder on the accelerator?  Or keep your eyes peeled for a petrol station?

My guess is you’d do the latter. 

You pay attention to the signal.  Because if you don’t, things could get inconvenient.

But here’s the thing…

There are similar signals all around us which we don’t pay attention to.

Stress signals are one.

Sometimes we feel tired or feel a stiffness in our muscles. Sometimes we get sniffles and a cough.

And when we ignore these signals, they might increase.  The tiredness turns into exhaustion.  The sniffles turn into a full-blown cough.

Then new signals appear. 

We develop a throbbing headache.  We can’t get to sleep, even though we're exhausted.  Or we wake up at 3.30am, heart pounding and drenched in sweat.

And if we keep ignoring these signals for long enough, the body takes matters into its own hands.

It burns itself out and shuts itself down.  Just like a car running out of petrol.

And I see now just how valuable these warning signs are.  Especially when it comes to stress.

These signs are a gift. 

Our body is showing us kindness by prompting us to change our behaviour to reduce our pain.

And for things to work as they should, all we need to do is accept the gift.

But I rejected these gifts most of my working life.

I didn’t see signs of stress as an invitation to take things easier.  I saw them as an invitation to do more. 

So my strategy was to build up my resistance to stress by putting my foot on the accelerator.  And pushing harder and more determinedly.

I took on more work.  I toiled later into the evenings.  I plied myself with coffee and started to cut my sleep.

Stress was something I needed to defeat!

And I PRIDED myself on how resistant and hardy I became.

Of course, there’s only one way this ends.  If you push harder for long enough, you’ll burn out.

It might take years or even decades, but it’s inevitable.

So nowadays, rather than try to build my tolerance to stress, I try to actively reduce it.  If the signs appear, I notice them quicker and stand for them less. 

Perhaps you think this idea is counterintuitive.  Perhaps you even think it’s flawed.

No biggie.

But there's something that feels so right to me about paying attention to what our bodies tell us.

Just like our body tells us we’re dehydrated by giving us a dry throat, and so we grab a glass of water.

It’s second nature.  We do it without thinking.

And our body gives us signs like these all the time.  It tells us what we need in every way it can.

The only mistake we can make is ignoring the signs and not accepting the gifts our body gives us.

What do you think?  

Hit reply and let me know.  I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

That’s all for today. 

- Tom