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Stress |
The
alarm clock goes off and you slowly raise your head to hit the snooze
button, it has begun again. You have awakened to another day of tardy
bells, deadlines, and responsibilities. All in all, it equals more stress.
In those few waking moments you consider taking the day off and staying in
bed. You tell yourself, “Everyone needs a break sometimes.” This is
true. Being a high school student is very overwhelming at times. There is
the obvious homework, waking up at dawn, and the attendance policy to live
up to. To top it off, most students are working to pay off cell phone
bills and car payments, and juggling a social schedule as well. Senior
Jenna Manheim says, “Because it’s my senior year, I get really
stressed out about college, and I don’t think teachers always
acknowledge the fact that we are stressing about these things.”
It can get very hectic at times. Maybe challenging yourself
everyday is what gets stuff done. But there are times when your body
can’t take all this stress. And after so much, this stress will show
physical signs.
We each live according to our own schedule during the week, usually waking up around 7:00 am and falling asleep around 11:00 pm. Then the weekend rolls around and we are thrown out of wack, by staying up till at least 2:00 am on Friday and Saturday, and then of course sleeping in till late afternoon. You don’t just stay awake till 2:00 am, but you usually stay up doing all the fun yet draining activities that teens do! This alone throws off our biological clocks. This is why Monday’s always seem so long and aggravating. Senior Sherri Karp says,” I’m always exhausted after the weekends, it’s physically draining to change your sleeping schedule over the weekend.” We need time to get back on schedule and be well rested for school. But how can this be solved? Make weekends longer and enforce one day as a recovery day…not going to happen! There is only one real solution for each person; we have to take care of ourselves. Lookout for your own physical and mental health, and don’t overwork yourself. This seems practically impossible, considering all there is to live up to. In this world one has to be smart, punctual, attractive, and financially stable, have nice clothes and accessories, a good personality and lots of friends. Fitting in can be very difficult!
If stress becomes persistent and low-level, however, all parts of the body's stress apparatus (the brain, heart, lungs, vessels, and muscles) become chronically over- or under-activated; this may produce physical or psychological damage over time. Acute stress can also be harmful in certain situations. Perhaps the best general approach for treating stress can be found in the elegant passage by St. Francis of Asissi, "Grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept the things I can't change, and the wisdom to know the difference." The process of learning to control stress is life-long, and will not only contribute to better health, but a greater ability to succeed in one's own agenda.