Stress has emerged as one of the challenges facing most people in the society. Perhaps, with the current kind of lifestyle, stress has become part of life among most people. Modern life is characterized by deadlines, hassles, demands, and frustrations. In most cases, stress has become part of life for many people. Although it can be good in certain instances, it is well known for its complications on the human body (Olpin and Margie, 13). However, until the physical manifestation of stress symptoms, many people fail to act in a positive manner towards reducing stress in their lives. Therefore, it is imperative for people to learn to know when they are stressed and take the necessary steps towards avoiding stress. Particularly, stress can be avoided through various ways including: learning to be aware of when one is stressed, relaxation, time management, connecting with people, and being active.
Relaxation also helps in avoiding stress. Relaxation time does not appear in the schedules of most people. Psychologists argue that relaxation is crucial for the body and mind, hence a very important tool in handling stress. Relaxation and stress are the different ends of the scale. For people to live a joyful and productive life, both relaxation and stress are inevitable. Some tips on relaxation include: avoiding living in the past, learning to say “No”, setting realizable and realistic goals and objectives, and exercising the body and the mind. Time management is an important factor in avoiding stress (Singh, 27). Through time management, it is easy to regulate working time, and eliminates any uncertainty on the available time for completion of certain tasks. Furthermore, time management creates periods of relaxation.
Besides, connecting with other people is helpful in avoiding stress. It is easy to solve a problem when people open up to other people, especially the close friends and family members. The network of support would make it easy to deal with whatever problems one is facing. Reducing one’s expectations is yet another way of avoiding stress (Singh, 39). In this case, an individual should try to avoid being over-committed in certain issues, especially those that are likely to cause stress. Lastly, positive thinking is vital in dealing with stress. Avoiding being more concerned with failures, but instead reflecting and appreciating success is helpful. As such, one should appreciate his/her limitations and coming to terms that succeeding in everything is not always possible (Olpin and Margie, 23).
Based on the above discussion, it is evident that stress is inevitable in life especially because of the very nature of today’s lifestyle. Without stress life could have little meaning. However, the most important thing is to balance between stress and relaxation, the two factors that are at the opposite ends of the scale. Stress can be avoided in various ways including learning to be aware of when one is stressed, relaxation, time management, connecting with people, and being active.
Works Cited
Gregson, Susan R. Stress Management. Mankato, Minn: LifeMatters, 2000. Print.
Olpin, Michael, and Margie Hesson. Stress Management for Life: A Research-Based, Experiential Approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Singh, Anita. Stress Management: Mission to Fight Pressure, Mental and Emotional Strain. New Delhi: Global India Publications, 2009. Print.
