Sexual Wholeness - Relationships

In the post entitled "Relationship Tune-Up", I stressed the importance of keeping the relationship with your partner in good working order if you want to keep the sexual spark alive.

But what about all of your other relationships? What role do they play in your life? Certainly your partner can't meet all of your needs.

Hopefully you have a good network of support from friends and family. The quality of your relationships significantly impacts your stress level and your overall emotional well-being. You need people to shore you up in difficult times and celebrate with you during times of joy. However, you may have relationships that deplete you rather than fill you up. Think about the relationships in your life and what changes may be needed - whether that's adding or eliminating relationships, setting different limits, or asking for what you need. It can make a big difference in your life.

Getting In Charge of Stress - Part 2

After changing, delegating, and eliminating some of the stress producers in your life, there will still be leftover sources of stress which just can't be fixed. That's when you take charge by increasing your resistance to stress and changing your thoughts and beliefs about the stressor.

You increase your stress-tolerance by getting enough sleep at night, exercising several times a week, eating a healthy diet, taking regular time-outs for fun, remembering to breathe deeply, and laughing on a regular basis. Without good self-care, your body is ill-equipped to deal long term with the daily onslaught of stress.

You can also reduce the impact of stress if you have a good support network. Operating in isolation not only limits how much help is available for accomplishing the multitude of tasks facing you each day, it also limits your access to emotional support. Caring, validating people can make a huge difference when you're going through a particularly stressful time.

Tomorrow I'll talk about changing how you think about the stressors in your life.