Stress: In today’s fast-paced and ever-connected world, stress has become a fact of life. Stress can cause people to feel overwhelmed or pushed to the limit. The American Psychological Association’s 2008 Stress in America survey found that one-third of people in the U.S. report experiencing extreme levels of stress. While low to moderate levels of stress can be good for you when managed in healthy ways, extreme stress takes both an emotional and physical toll on the individual. With the consequences of poorly managed stress range from fatigue to heart disease and obesity, it is important to know how to recognize high stress levels and take action to handle it in healthy ways. Being able to control stress is a learned behavior, and stress can be effectively managed by taking small steps toward changing unhealthy behaviors (American Psychological Association, 2009).

Bury It Deep

Written by Shawn Jones
Photography by Kelvin
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Every runner has their reason for running. For some people it’s about losing weight, staying in shape, trying to avoid death, etc. But, for others it’s about relieving stress and letting go of things. After a long day at work or even a long week in general, a nice hard run seems to release that pent up stress and helps me put things back into perspective.

This past Thursday I was at a “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon” kickoff event, a program that help United States military troops assimilate back into society after war. At that event, I listened to a speech made by a man who had served three different tours over the course of five years. One of the things that he mentioned was that he had to learned to “bury it deep” once he got home from war. On the same day he was informed he was called for active duty, he was also told his two-month-old daughter had cancer. As time went on, he had to find a way to bury all those negative thoughts and stressors in his life, and somehow, just move forward.

This soldier was not a runner like me, but he delivered a message that everyone can take to heart. Whether it is every day, week, or month, we all need to learn to take those negative moments or events in life and bury them deep. This allows us to wake up the next day and move on. I have found myself over the years wasting precious energy and time on things that I should have just buried. Today, running is my release. It allows me to “bury” a bad day at work or some life event that didn’t go my way and move on to bigger and better things. The next time you decide to go for a run, I urge you to think about “burying it deep.”

Shawn Jones received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a Masters of Management from the University of Phoenix, currently is a National Account Executive at Questar and calls himself a “typical” 29-year old.  Please visit his blog Running Man 79, where he discusses his love-hate relationship with running and the many lessons that he has learned while participating  in various athletic experiences.