Have you ever felt so overwhelmed and stuck about what to do? A demand or bunch of them hit you all at once and have you wondering how you’re going to manage… Sometimes it can be just one thing that sets the pace for the rest of the day, and everything feels off kilter, and you find yourself feeling miserable or with surmountable tension that you can’t seem to kick. If so, be rest assured that you’re not alone.

Stress is a universal experience that we all have to deal with in one way or another. We all have ups and downs as we face life’s challenges. The difference is that just as no two people are the same, no two situations are. Some people may be struggling with a lot of minor stressors, while others try and grapple with one major life blow. And some may be affected differently by a situation than the next person. For instance, a loss of a parent may have a different impact on you than someone else, based on the type of relationship you had with them – close, stable, distant, complicated and other factors.

I had a unique experience once with the loss of a relative when they passed, with some emotions that came up about them personally – separately from grieving the loss itself. Although, their passing affected me deeply, it was interesting that grieving came after I faced the reasons for my initial reaction. I go into more detail about it, along with the other cluster of losses I experienced simultaneously, in my book Nine Lives Mourned: A Memoir About Overcoming Multiple Loss, if you’re interested in reading more about it: https://cherylpatterson.ca/e-book-nine-lives-mourned-a-memoir-about-overcoming-multiple-loss/.

The point is that stress is personal and multi-faceted, and in addition to being impacted differently, we also cope in different ways. For some people stress can escalate into high anxiety or even phobias, and the reverse can happen too – high anxiety or phobias can increase the stress in a person’s life.

Stress is a complex topic that warrants ways of coping that fit your unique needs. Having been a magazine columnist and writer of this topic for over 20 years, I’ve covered a wealth of areas that are challenging for people, as well as methods for coping. So I wanted to pass this information on to you in a way that is flexible based on the demands you’re facing at any given time. So, I have compiled some of the most important and informative articles that I have written over the years to provide you with a variety of ways to cope with the stressors that are affecting you.

This book is intended to inform, support, and inspire you to move forward from the minor and major challenges in your life. It can help you to deal with general stress, teach you what’s behind anxiety and phobias, help you to cope with loss, and propel you toward a more meaningful and fulfilling life. You will learn about how stress impacts you physically, mentally, emotionally and socially, and can find comfort knowing that you can face life’s ups and downs because with knowledge comes the power to do so.

You may find that you relate to a specific topic on stress more so than others at a given time in your life, and that at other times certain issues speak to you more. You may also find that you want to learn as much as you can about stress overall, as a preventative measure for dealing with life’s ups and downs. This book provides you with that ‘go to’ flexibility. You can read a couple of articles that jump out at you at any given time, or read all of them to learn, grow and be prepared for the inevitable stress that touches us all. My goal is to empower you with a life filled with wellness, meaning, and the inspiration to learn, grow and thrive. 

If you think this can be of value to you or someone you know, click here to get a copy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PJN9GGD

All the best to you,

Cheryl Patterson