Stress Factor: Learn How to Deal it For Good

Stress is the ultimate silent killer. Better than any apex predator, stress can strike you down when you least expect it. The success rate of stress relies on its ability to exist unseen, and the cumulative effects of its presence are usually fatal. From depression to diabetes to hypertension, stress in life is a definite negative.

But how can you fight something you can’t see?

The best thing you can do when stress is invading your life is not fight it, because “fighting” stress brings yet another stressful situation on top of everything else. The world isn’t perfect, and stress will always be present no matter what. So,instead of fighting stress, you should learn how to manage it.

How Can You Manage Stress?

The first order of business is to identify what stresses you out. This is easy when a major event happens in your life, such as moving to another city, getting laid off from work, switching careers or losing a loved one, but the smaller sources of daily stress is harder to identify.

It could be a lot of factors, from traffic on your daily commute to work, to the odd behavior of your co-workers. The simplest way to identify what stresses you out is a quick self-assessment on the everyday stuff:

  • When you’re generally happy doing a task or talking to someone, there’s no stress linked to that task or that person.
  • When you feel unhappy about doing a project or having to endure a long monologue by your boss, then these events drive your stress levels up.

So, if you hate getting stuck in traffic on your way to and from work, don’t take your car. Take the rail or subway to work, because it’ll be faster. If standing on a crowded subway still gives you grief, rent an apartment next to your office so you don’t have to commute. The point is, never stop until you find something that makes you happy and don’t be afraid to compromise.

Practice Meditation

You can also deal with stress by daily meditation. By devoting 20 minutes of your time twice a day, you can keep stress and negative emotions at bay. By meditating, you can lower your anxiety levels, increase concentration and aid your immune system to ward of diseases.

Studies have shown that meditation changes brain physiology to slow aging, so you’ll not only feel great, but you’ll look younger, too. Meditation combined with collagen products from Calorad.com can be a great 1-2 punch to slow the aging process.

Get Busy Outdoors

Physical activity plays a major role in managing stress. Get out on the trail, take up running, join a gym, walk your dog, take daily walks, ride a bike – engage in anything that gets you moving, sweating and outdoors. Nature has been scientifically proven to improve mood and lift up spirits in people who suffer from depression.

Doing stuff outdoors also lets you meet new people and make new friends. Social interaction is another way to reduce stress levels because having face to face contact with other people that you can talk to provides a sense of relief that you’re not alone.

Acceptance

This is probably the most important part of managing stress. The world is not a perfect oyster. Things will go wrong. People will make mistakes. Everyday items will break down. Disappointment is a constant part of life. What can you do? Accept the fact that there are a lot of things you can’t control, let alone change.

You can’t control how another person thinks or acts, even your children. You can’t control the stock market or who’ll win the next election. But you can control how you react to certain situations. Acceptance is an important factor to avoid getting stressed out. If you get stuck in traffic, take the time to plan a new project or listen to a podcast you missed.

The key here is to accept that you can’t do anything about the traffic, and react accordingly. This works with any situation, so practice it on the small stuff and see how well it works and move on the bigger stressors in your life afterwards.

Stress is a deadly part of life, but with proper management techniques, you can turn a stressful situation into a happy, productive and positive one.