And it's the secret for dealing with stress. It's impossible to live in today's world without stress. We create expectations we can't possibly meet and then become stressed as we judge ourselves harshly for our inability to achieve our idealized goals. So the first step in controlling stress is to recognize the mechanism and begin to set more realistic expectations. None of us is going to cure every patient, win all our battles with managed care, or get through our careers without making some mistakes.
Physical exercise is the second part of a successful stress reduction program.
We are programmed reflexively to defend ourselves on both emotional and physical levels. We rev up our engines and build up energy as we prepare to fight or run. And, living in a post-Einstein world, we understand that if our excess physical energy isn't released, it can not only explode emotionally, but also create heart disease, strokes and high blood pressure. The exercise allows me to handle my most stressful days as if a Valium drip were running into my bloodstream. Expressing ourselves emotionally is the third key to stress relief.