Understanding how you react to stress can help you learn how to better use your energy. Generally we stress about things over which we have little control. When I am stressing, I try to remember to ask myself if there is anything I can do about today. If the answer is no, letting go of the stress makes my day much more pleasant.

Effects of chronic stress:

“The body doesn’t distinguish between physical and psychological threats. When you’re stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, or a mountain of bills, your body reacts just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation. If you have a lot of responsibilities and worries, your emergency stress response may be “on” most of the time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the easier it is to trip and the harder it is to shut off.”

Stress reduction:

“This also leads to my basic premise about stress reduction: to master stress, you must change. You have to figure out what you are doing that is contributing to your problem and change it. These changes fall into four categories: change your behavior, change your thinking, change your lifestyle choices and/or change the situations you are in. By getting to the root causes of your stress, you can not only relieve current problems and symptoms but you can also prevent recurrences. For example, if you keep becoming frustrated over arguments with your children, you might discover that the cause of your upset is not their behavior but your unrealistic expectations. By modifying your standards, you might find the children’s actions no longer bother you.”

How to lower your stress level:

“Stress is a fact of life for most people. You may not be able to get rid of stress, but you can look for ways to lower it.”

“You might try some of these ideas:

• Learn better ways to manage your time. You may get more done with less stress if you make a schedule. Think about which things are most important, and do those first.
• Find better ways to cope. Look at how you have been dealing with stress. Be honest about what works and what does not. Think about other things that might work better.
• Take good care of yourself. Get plenty of rest. Eat well. Don’t smoke. Limit how much alcohol you drink.
• Try out new ways of thinking. When you find yourself starting to worry, try to stop the thoughts. Work on letting go of things you cannot change. Learn to say “no.”
• Speak up. Not being able to talk about your needs and concerns creates stress and can make negative feelings worse. Assertive communication can help you express how you feel in a thoughtful, tactful way.
• Ask for help. People who have a strong network of family and friends manage stress better. “