Hi this is Donna Brogan back with you, as promised with Part III of my series on stress.  I really hope you are receiving some meaningful help from these posts. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know any ideas you may have.

What Stress Means to You

Stress is something that is in everyone’s day-to-day life.  Dealing with it is the harder part of your day.  You can reduce stress by taking your day one step at a time, not making too much of the things that happen.  Relax, breathe deeply, smile – these are things that can make your problems seem less intense.

If not avoided, stress can lead to health risks and even mental illness.  It can affect your relationships with family and friends and can even create a risk to yourself.  It must be taken care of immediately. Thinking positive will reduce the risk of being stressed out. Worrying about things we can do nothing about is also a leading cause of stress.

Stress is preventable and manageable.  It  is the number one health problem for most people. Although stress itself is not a  cause of death, the side effects from it can be.  So many things cause stress in daily life.  It can appear in the body in many ways and in many forms.  Stress is brought on differently in every person and for some people it is a debilitating disease that can ruin an entire life.

Preventing Stress

Some of the reasons for stress can be work, family, a terrible or sudden loss of a loved one, an ended marriage or relationship or problems in health and diet.  Stress can come from anything and take over a person’s life very quickly.  It is important for people to learn to prevent stress in their life.

One way to do this is to follow a good diet.  You need to make sure that you are filling your body with healthy foods that will support your mental and physical health.  The more junk that you eat, the more weight you gain and the less energy you have.  This will not only make you feel bad about yourself, the way you feel and look, but may cause a person to become depressed because of these feelings.

Having a good exercise program is another important factor in relieving stress.  Exercise can make a person feel better, both about the way they look and feel about themselves.  You will be burning calories and helping your body becomes stronger and healthier.

There are medications that can be prescribed by a doctor along with vitamins that can be used to help a person deal with the things in their lives that are keeping them from fulfilling their greatest potentials.  These vitamins are going to help with the support of the mind and help people to maintain a better outlook.

One of the best things I can think of to take away those feelings of depression is a good motivational or personal development person.  There are so many CD’s and books on the subject.  Some really good authors are:  Joel Osteen (my personal favorite), John C. Maxwell (great for personal growth), Stephen Covey, and so many more.  Some very special people always ready to help with motivation and personal development are <a href=http://katiefreiling.com>Katie Freiling</a>, <a href=http://createwitheric.com>Eric Goldstein</a> and <a href=http://karyrogney.com>Kary Rogney</a>.

Most of all you need a great support system.  This means that you should have the help that you are going to need from your friends and family.  You will want to have someone to lean on when you are in need of  that support.  You will be able to manage your stress better and feel more confident in finding a way out of it.  All of these things can make you believe in yourself and feel better about yourself.  Soon you can be on your way to a new life

Therefore, as long as you try to keep a  positive attitude and seek help (if you can’t handle the situation yourself) you should be able to sit back, and enjoy a stress-free lifestyle.  Life can be so much fun, and enjoyable without stress.  So take these few tips and create those dreams and learn how to follow them.  Life can and will be good.

So thanks for being with me again and I will talk to you soon in Part IV.  Remember, I won’t mind a bit if you decide to retweet this or leave a comment.  I look forward to hearing what you think and having you share anything you can to help on this subject.   Have a great day.

STRESS  that is!  Can you handle what comes your way or do you need to seek help?  I would like to share a 5-part study of stress with you.  I hope you will benefit from this series, either for yourself or maybe for a family member or friend.   Please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think and how stress has affected you.

Exactly what is stress?

That is a very hard question to answer because there are so many kinds of stress and the entire body and mind can be affected  in so many different ways.

Stress is usually considered the buildup of anxiety and pressures.  There is only so much pressure that one person can handle and stress will  occur when the person has had their fill of it.  Now if you are a believer – this is where people will say “God won’t give you any more than you can handle”.  Well, how many people really believe this when they are the one going through the stressful situation?  I am here to tell you that I have personally been in this position and know, for a fact, that this is true.  At the time I wasn’t so sure that I would get through the stressful problem but I did.

Stress is not necessarily a dangerous thing.  It is only a problem when the person who is under a great deal of it can no longer function and is letting it get the best of them. It is very important that help be received immediately whether by counseling or medications.

Many people have stress because of their job.  Some people bring their work worries and troubles home with them.  This can mean that they are having a hard time dealing with pressure.  They may start to have mood swings or be depressed a lot.  Depression is one of the major symptoms of stress and can be a danger to the person themselves as well as hurting the people who are close to them.

Some people have too many problems at home.  It may be a bad relationship with a partner or child.  This can cause a person to lose sight of what they are doing, making them think they can’t manage one more thing in their lives – these people need to take time out for themselves and relax – even if it is just going for a short walk  to get away from things.  An example is:

I have a dear, dear father living with us.  He is 86 and I have learned so many things from him in the years he has been with us.  But he has been diagnosed with scoleosis and cannot walk or stand for long periods of time.  This makes it hard for him to do even little things – without going into all the details – I just want to say this can be an added stress to daily life  and when you have so many more things on your plate, well, let’s just say it can become very stressful.  The hours in the day are gone before you know it because you have spent your day changing DVD’s, getting lunch, giving medications, etc.  Believe me when I tell you this can be very stressful.  Not that I would change things and send him to a nursing home, but I have learned to handle this stress and so can you.

It is very normal for people to have some form of stress.  It is something that we all have had to deal with and we eventually get through it.  However, there are some that cannot work past it and this can lead to more problems that may become very serious for them later down the road.  This will include a person’s emotional and physical health.

When a person has too much stress, they must find help from a source that they can trust.  This can be a professional, a spouse (if they are not the cause of the stress), or a very dear friend.  It is important to get things under control as soon as possible so that the person will have a chance for a happy and healthy lifestyle.  There are ways to control stress and to get away from those stress-related problems.  But the first thing that must be done is to recognize when you are under too much stress and then get help immediately.

I hope this has given you some insight into how challenging stress can be and if you or someone you know has a problem, maybe it will allow you to understand how important it is to manage it as soon as possible.  It usually does not just go away by itself and I really believe that there is no cure for stress, only a way of managing it.

If you have any other ideas or just want to share please comment below.  I look forward to all comments.  If you haven’t already would you please join my google friend connect so we may all stay in touch.  I will be back with Part II soon.