We’ve always had to deal with stress. People’s lives are getting more and more stressful in this busy time. Experts say that a little bit of stress can be good because it keeps you on your toes and ready to move forward. It can also be necessary for getting the best performance out of you. On the other hand, medical research has shown that stress that lasts long is awful for the body and can stop its natural ability to heal, rebuild, and protect itself. Stress is the leading cause of more than 90% of diseases. It has effects on both the body and the mind. It can also cause long-term illness, weight gain, trouble sleeping, strained relationships, depression, and more.

Stress is such a strong and dangerous force that you must learn how to deal with it to live a successful, happy, and healthy life. We have to remember that there will always be things that make us feel stressed and worried. We don’t realize that it’s not the problems themselves that are hard to deal with but how we think about them. So, how you feel about these things makes you stressed. So, what is a good way to deal with things that stress you out?

Below are 5 great tips to handle stress.

1. Figure out what stresses you out and makes you feel uneasy. Making a list of the things that have stressed you out is helpful. Take care of the things you can change immediately, like getting up earlier for work, not putting things off until the last minute, and giving other people tasks if you are doing everything yourself. Don’t worry about things you can’t change, like being stuck in traffic or not being able to get in the elevator because it’s full.

2. Take it easy. A short break would be good for you. Wash your face, take slow, deep breaths, and check to see if any part of your body is tense. If there is, let it go. You can also call a friend or listen to music that makes you feel better. It’s healthy to talk to a friend about how you really feel.

3. It will go away, and before you know it, it will be over. 

Keeping in mind that the stressful event will end eventually can help you see the good in things. At the same time, try to keep your emotions in check and think about what you should do instead of letting your emotions keep you from doing what needs to be done.

4. Know yourself. 

Ask yourself, “What makes you nervous?” If it’s something like your job, think about whether it would be better to find something less stressful. You can also make your job easier to handle by giving yourself the time off you need.

5. Learn to use your ability to calm down.

We all have the stress response, but we also have the relaxation response, which is the opposite. A person should ask that question often. There are two parts to the relaxation response. Repetition can be a word, a sound, a phrase, or a movement that is done repeatedly. The second step is to stop paying attention to other thoughts that come up while you’re repeating and go back to the repetition. You should use the method once or twice a day for about 15 minutes each time. Sit still and pick something to repeat, like a prayer, the sound “Om,” the word “love,” or the word “calm.” Or you can do an exercise you can repeatedly do, like yoga, jogging, or Reiki. Knitting and doing handiwork are two more examples of repetitive activities. When you do this every day, you become calmer and better able to deal with things that stress you out. Relaxing your mind gets easier the more you do it, and the more you practice, the better you get at it.

The actual cause of stress is not the problems or bad things in your life but how you react to them. So, the trick is to change your attitude and become more relaxed because you can’t be both stressed out and calm at the same time. It is important to understand that what we focus on is what we give energy to. The more you think about the things that make you stressed, the more energy you give them. So it is important to let go and focus on relaxation instead. So, you’re less likely to be upset by a stressor and less likely to feel the bad effects of it. In the end, it is your choice. You could keep reacting in the same stressful way or improve your life by changing your attitude and becoming calmer. There is no other way around it.