Stress Level Meter

I have been doing a bit of thinking about this topic lately and a few questions have raised. So I decided to post a few of them below concerning our: Stress Level Meter?

So do you think we have one of these? Do you think that all of us are given some imaginary number inside our brains that is our limit and that dictates how much stress we can handle at any given time? And if pushed over that limit, that's when shjt hits the fan? Who knows, but it's interesting to contemplate.

So I am sitting here (being super cool), and I am wondering what must happen in order for us to finally let the stress in our lives 'get to us'? Do you think that each little thing that happens throughout the day adds to our stress level and once we reach a critical point we break? I mean for example, maybe there is a point system that our body makes up that is catered only to us? Because we both know that certain thinks 'irk' us more than other things... Here, let's make up an imaginary point system. (Maybe even add a few in there yourself?)

[Based on a 100 point system]

Stress Contributors:

  • Spilled coffee on lap: 2 points
  • Locked keys in the car: 11.5 points
  • Forgot to do the laundry: 4 points
  • No sex for a month: 3 points
  • break your favorite pair of heels: 14 points
  • You're sick: 57 points (You are basically already starting ever day that stressed/mad)
  • Too much work at work: 18 points
  • Someone fails to come through on a promise: 25 points
  • Your Internet connection doesn't work for a day: 31 points
  • Boyfriend gets his 5th speeding ticket and has spend the weekend in jail: 100 points
You can start to see where I am going with this. Everything is given a point system and how each one affects you is different from person to person. Maybe you don't get that mad when you are sick or when you lock your keys in the car? But I know I do. (In fact, Who knows, but either way it all adds up until it gets to that breaking point.

Now think about this in the other direction. Is there such a thing as stress relievers? Maybe certain things relieve the stress that we have throughout a normal day? Here is another list of examples that could potentially be stress reducers.

Stress Reducers:

  • Favorite coffee in the morning: -2 points
  • No traffic on the drive in to work: -10 points
  • Boyfriend bought you surprise roses: -40 points
  • You ate your favorite food for lunch: -4 points
  • Gas prices went down: -4.5 points
  • Just scored 2 free tickets to see your favorite band: -17 points
  • Girls/Guys night out this coming Friday: -55 points
  • Bought a new pair of jeans: -22.5 points
  • Sex: -68 points
  • Awesome sex:-120 points :P
  • You won an all paid trip to Hawaii for a week: -1,000 points
So you can see again that this internal S.L.M. can be affected in both ways. You can lower it by eating some chocolate or taking a run for lunch, but you can also affect it the other way by stepping in mud when you are on your run... ticks me off. :)

I personally think we have one of these and all those imaginary points get added up before you finally need to do something about it, before you explode. I think that we all operate with some level of stress everyday, but it's more important to control that level and manage it, than the actual fact that we have it. Being more stressed puts a strain on every part of your life as well, it certainly makes the other parts of your life suck more. Maybe it makes it so you don't want to get down & dirty that night with your significant other, or you aren't "in the mood" to go do something that you normally LOVE to do. Who knows?

Either way this S.L.M. needs to be taken care of and managed quite closely, and you need to decide when you should boost it back into a managable level, because if we don't manage it well we will have more of those 'wished I would have stayed in bed' days. :P

Just a short rant.

Can't wait for the weekend, -60 points!

Posted in: , , , , , on Friday, July 17, 2009 at at 10:58 AM  

4 comments:

  1. life_is_now On July 17, 2009 at 3:01 PM Wrote

    Roommate quits his job and mooches off you for a month putting you in the hole +1500 pts

     
  2. Bamer On July 17, 2009 at 5:08 PM Wrote

    Damn... thats shitty dude.. :(

     
  3. Unknown On July 17, 2009 at 11:21 PM Wrote

    You forgot the being too poor to buy food and/or do anything but sit at home because you can't even afford a drink with friends, or even the bus to get there.

    And that's everyday starting out that stressed.

    Ha.. I like this post, Bamer. I know far too much about my stress-meter going off the charts. Luckily right now, I am in a position of watching some of those stressors disappear (thank God! I was just about 'done' there for a while), but in my current situation there are one or two new ones appearing. Just little ones that are an easy fix (maybe 3 or 5 points on your stress scale ;) ).

    You've got me thinking, Bamer. If 100 is so super stressed that your hair is standing on end (explains my bad hair days ;) ), and 0 is so relaxed you'd run down the stairs like melted butter - where on this scale of yours is it healthy to be?

    In my mind, a little stress is motivational (a very little!). As long as it's manageable and targeted it can keep an exciting edge to your life. Like having one or two deadlines to keep you on your toes at work. So is 10 points on the stress scale good? 15? 20? Or only 1 or 2?

    As someone who must learn to manage stress better, I'm curious. Tell me what you think.

     
  4. Bamer On July 17, 2009 at 11:49 PM Wrote

    I think that it's manageable to be at around 10-30 on a 100-point scale.

    I think some people run around at about 50-70 alot and it wears on them, but somehow they pull it off, but eventually they get sick or something eventually knocks them off.

    And their is people who are always at 90-100, and these people are the ones who need a vacation bad.. :)

     

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