Proactive Stress Management: Optimizing your position in the river of life

One of the most famous stories shared among health educators is credited to the great medical sociologist Irving Zola (1935-1994), and it is told from the perspective of a physician frustrated by modern medical practice.

“You know,” he said, “sometimes it feels like this. There I am standing by the shore of a swiftly flowing river and I hear the cry of a drowning man. So I jump into the river, put my arms around him, pull him to shore and apply artificial respiration. Just when he begins to breathe, there is another cry for help. So I jump into the river, reach him, pull him to shore, apply artificial respiration, and then just as he begins to breathe, another cry for help. So back in the river again, reaching, pulling, applying, breathing and then another yell. Again and again, without end, goes the sequence. You know, I am so busy jumping in, pulling them to shore, applying artificial respiration, that I have no time to see who the hell is upstream pushing them all in.”
[McKinlay, John B. 2001. “A Case for Refocusing Upstream: The Political Economy of Illness.”]

Far too often, stress management methods provide only short-term stress relief by masking a person’s underlying stressors, rather than providing the long-term stress relief that comes from resolving those stressors. People using the short-term approaches are confined to a downstream position in the river of life, which prevents them from attaining an optimal level of well-being, and contributes to exhaustion as they’re forced to repeatedly rescue themselves from recurring stressors.

Where are you positioned in the swiftly flowing river of life? Are you caught downstream in the river’s currents, narrowly surviving an endless series of catastrophes from which you can’t seem to catch a break? Or are you upstream, navigating life’s journey with mastery and skill? The principle of Proactive Stress Management is one of the most powerful navigation resources available, and it will empower you to move – and stay – upstream.