Coping With Stress

Every day the weather changes in some way. Maybe it's the breeze, or the temperature. Perhaps it's raining or it's snowing, or even a beautiful day outside. The point is that the weather is always ever present in our lives. While you can't control the weather, what you can do is make it more manageable, such as through dressing more appropriately to suit the conditions outdoors.

This is very similar to stress in that we can't necessarily avoid stress from trying to weasel it's way into our life, but we can face it head on and cope with it to prevent it from taking over. Stress, defined as our reactions to external situations or internal psychological states, affects our physical health and, of course, emotional well-being. Despite all of the books, features, and advice that's been put out there regarding the topic of stress, why are so many of us still feeling overwhelmed by it day after day?

One reason may be that we're unable to accept that the process of living life in itself causes various forms of stress, which means it's truly impossible to eliminate entirely. You can't live life without encountering stress, it's just a fact.

But not all stress is bad, per se. For instance, the excitement of achieving a goal and the occurrence of happy events in our lives can result in due stress that we welcome in many ways.