I do believe that our capacity to cope with and handle stress can be expanded with time and practice. I know that parenthood and life experiences have influenced my own capacity—I have much more resiliency and flexibility than I ever had when I was younger. The more we go through, the more we endure and survive, the more we realize just what is worth fussing over and what is not.
In the early days of operating your home business, you may feel as though the stress of trying to coordinate all the facets of your life and organize your business is going to break you. I liken it to those first few days and weeks as a new parent—every little thing seems huge and with the lack of sleep and physical exhaustion, dealing with even the most ordinary of issues can seem stressful.
As we age and gain experience, however, those ordinary challenges seem less stressful. As we see how we can meet the challenges, take care of business and do what needs to be done, it will start to feel more ordinary and less stressful. In order to actually work on increasing your tolerance for stress, you can practice and give yourself positive feedback and encouragement for the things that you do handle. I confess that several times during the day I will say to myself “We’re doing such a good job” or “We sure handled that one!” I t might sound dorky, but that little bit of self affirmation helps me to ground myself and remember that there is no need to get stressed out; I’m handling things just fine. Each time you accomplish something tough, stressful or challenging—give yourself encouragement or a pat on the back, remind yourself that you can handle anything that comes your way and soon you will find that your tolerance for stress and stressful situations has expanded.
See Also: the Stress Management category in the Mental Health Blog