There may seem to be nothing you can do about stress. The bills won’t stop coming, there is not enough hours in the day, and your career and family responsibilities will always be challenging. The only way we can handle stress is taking control of it and your life. It is the basics of stress management. Managing stress is about taking charge of your thoughts, emotions, schedule, and the way you deal with problems. We need to identify the problems in life and find solutions, this isn’t as easy as it sounds but we all can do it.

            Identifying the sources of stress is one of the first steps in stress management. One of my biggest stressors in life right now is getting a good job, so I can support my family. It is not easy in today’s economy but I’m not giving up. Another stressor is also my transition from military life back to civilian life. After years of training and deployments, military is all I know. But I am lucky to have a great girlfriend and a little one to help ease the transition. Your true sources of stress aren’t always obvious, and it’s all too easy to overlook your own stress-inducing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

            Many may also find temporary ways to relief stress but may not be the best. These coping strategies may temporarily reduce stress, but cause more damage in the long run. Some examples may include smoking, using pills or drugs, drinking too much, and lastly what I’ve seen the most is taking out your stress on others. If your methods of coping with stress weren’t supporting to your greater emotional and physical health, it would be wise to find healthier ones. My biggest stress reliever is going to the gym. It is a great way to get your mind of you worries, plus another great way to stay in shape. Since everyone has a unique response to stress, there is no “one size fits all” solution to managing it. There is no single method that works for everyone or in every solution, so we need to find different ways and strategies. Focus on what makes you feel relaxed and in control.

            In all my researches on stress there were three things that I picked up that really helped me with my stress. First, was avoiding people who stress you out; if someone consistently causes stress in your life, that person needs to go. Second, was don’t try to control the uncontrollable; many things in life are beyond our control, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems. Last but not least is look for the upside; when facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from you mistakes. All in all, don’t sweat the small stuff and be happy. Life is way to short and we all need to enjoy it.