Escaping From Stress or From Reality?
By: Missionary Team
It seems impossible to escape the stress from our day-to-day lives, where all we want to do is just plug in our headphones or look at our phones to get our minds off all the messiness on the outside, and I can agree with that stance because I too have dealt with that habit my whole life. However, when escapism and trying to get away from reality become too much? I struggled to figure out this question for most of my life, I thought I had good habits for recreation and relieving stress, but in truth, I spent unhealthy amounts of my time lazily watching videos and listening to music. In some shape or form, we all get sucked in too deep from trying to escape from our daily struggles, but there are ways for everyone to balance it in a lifestyle that is healthy and fruitful.
I could probably never recall how many I would come home from a long day of work and spend my whole night watching TV and videos for hours while barely spending time with my family or getting any exercise, and looking back at those choices fills me with the deepest of regrets. I have also seen this attitude in so many people, young and old, completely absorbed into their technology, and be it my family, friends, and ordinary people walking by in public. Realistically, we shouldn’t be using more than an hour a day on our devices, for the temptation to keep using them only grows stronger. So many times have I told myself, “Oh, just five more minutes”, only to end up spiraling out of control and wasting countless hours scrolling through and watching pointless videos on my phone. This mentality that I and so many others struggle with can become so corruptive not only to our minds that we are not only addicted to using our devices constantly, but also we can start to push staying fit and healthy to the wayside. In the end, too much time spent on our phones and other devices will undoubtedly lead us down a path of wasted time and sloth.
Initially, the first step that needs to be taken to have a steady lifestyle of relieving stress is to limit the amount of time we use on our devices, and this first step is the hardest, as it has been and is a struggle for me to deal with. However, after pushing through this step and staying faithful to it, it truly has worked wonders, as I’ve found myself more motivated to exercise, socialize, and even re-engage in projects I had lost passion for. I encourage you all to attempt this step, as it will bring fulfillment in some way, and the results will show themselves, as they did when I put effort into limiting my phone use. In addition to giving up our devices, another step that will help us grow in properly ridding stress is to get more active physically and mentally. There are countless options for recreation to stay physically and mentally active, but in my physical sense, I have always enjoyed working out, going for a walk or a jog, and playing sports or games with family and friends. In the mental sense of staying active, I tend to practice writing or typing, puzzles and board games, and drawing and sketching. Staying busy with activities like these has really helped me stay away from being idle and overusing my phone, and I am positive for everyone as well, as long as you have a strong effort and drive to succeed.
Technology is very much a gift in all of our lives, and what it gives to people in terms of communication is unbelievable, but without a balanced use of it, it can be quite damaging to us and our health. As I shared for an example, carelessly using devices like I did can lead to laziness and a self-destructive lifestyle. However, using technology wisely in ways by limiting our phone usage and putting our time into getting physical and mental recreation can become a very healthy and rewarding way to live. As a final result of building a better way of relieving stress, there is an enormous openness to you will receive in growing in one’s faith, and even I found a deeper desire to grow in my relationship with Christ than to mess around watching YouTube on my phone. I ask that you all attempt to limit your devices and try to put more into staying active, but most importantly, find the openness to grow in your faith in God.
