Faith, hope and … umm … what is that other thing again?

Stress! That is it, S T R E S S. Think about it. We will always have some degree of stress in our life. This is a perfectly natural state and is quite unavoidable. It is the ebb and flow of strength and fragility throughout our life. When we get really stressed out and our stress becomes distress, what is it that actually holds us together? Faith and hope are the two variables we tend to fall back upon. Although as individuals, we probably each go about things a little differently. Some folk choose to do things really differently to most and that is okay. Underlying feelings seem to be much the same though, even when expressed in different ways. Feelings of stress are the effects of strain. This strain may be physical, psychological or emotional. Sometimes, we experience a combination of all three.

Hopelessness! Despair! Depression! All pretty rotten kinds of feelings. Thoughts that sneak in at these times are invariably of the stinking thinking kind, to say the very least. These feelings and thoughts seem to go hand in hand with all kinds of stressors and crises during our lives. It is a natural reaction to seek emotional protection from any state of distress and hope for something better.

Hope and despair are at opposite positions on a continuum with varying degrees of happiness and depression in-between. Most of the time, we fit in there somewhere between hope and despair. When we are feeling the effects of stressful situations, it is hope that gives us relief from feelings of tension and frustration. Hope is the promise of improvement in the future. The promise of hope relieves stressful situations associated with our health, coping with a disability or with any life situation.

There are very strong elements of emotion involved with hope. These emotional elements are what we refer to as faith. Faith is the very stuff we hope with. Evidence of what we can not see but we know within our heart and our mind that it exists. We talk about religious Faiths, the major religions within the world all proclaiming faith in the one true God. Some people call this belief a strength or force greater than themselves. Every evening when we go to bed we do so in faith that the sun will rise in the morning. We believe we will do things we are planning, before the time is even in existence. As children we believe in and rely upon our parents, sometimes on others carers and or family members, to care for us and protect us as we grow. These are all examples of faith and also of hope.

I hope this article is giving you something to think about in your life in relation to stressful situations you may experience. My experience of stress in relation to my spasmodic dysphonia and also cervical dystonia is that I develop a fear of speaking on the telephone and a fear of falling over or not being able to see what is at my feet when my head pulls back from muscles tightening. I do have faith that the medical team working with me will be able to offer on-going relief for me with botox injection treatment, speech therapy exercises and physiotherapy. My hope is that I will continue to live as independently as I can and enjoy my relationships with family and friends.

Would you like to read about other stress related topics such as stress management or any other areas of interest? Please let me know by leaving a comment or you are welcome to email me at s.j.bayliss@bigpond.com.au and I will get back to you.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.