In today's life stress has pervaded every sphere of our lives. Just look around and you'll see stress lurking, waiting to invade you in the blink of an eye. Pink slips, slipping economy, country at war, sub-prime crisis, falling home rates, rising prices of gasoline, etc., etc. - just about every situation that you face has stress stuck to it. Everyone faces stress in some form or the other, each dealing with it in his own way.

People use a variety of techniques to bust their stress. Some resort to positive stress-busting methods like meditation or relaxation exercises, while others take refuge in harmful things (e.g., alcohol and drugs) to get relief from stressful events. Unfortunately, most of the people are not aware of a powerful secret method of busting stress that is very simple to follow. And I am going lead you on to it. Here we go:

But before I do that, I would like to tell you something: I am neither a wiz at busting stress nor a medical professional. I am just a common fella who from his experience of life has cottoned on to a very simple and effective stress-busting technique that can bring about tranquility in life. So, remember this: I am simply talking from experience, not from any encyclopedia on psychology.

Before I get down to revealing this little secret, I need you to recall all the possible methods you have used in the past for combating stress, and just how effective they were. Did they work or did they take you on a wild goose chase? Did they better your health or did they add to its stressful state? Did your stress go away, shrink or multiply?

If from your own experience you have found some stress-busting techniques that seem to work for you, then you don't have to ditch them - use them as a foundation and build on that using my secret technique for enhanced results.

So, what exactly is this powerful secret that I have been harping on for so long? Well, my friend, the secret is quite simple and here it - CHANGE YOUR MIND. Before you change your mind about reading what follows next, let me delve into a little more detail. Just bear with me.

It was only recently that I realized that I was getting bogged down quite a bit by personal issues. Personal setbacks had reversed my life's little schedule and sent my mind into a tizzy. The stress in my life had reached its pinnacle and its effects were cascading down to my finances, health and emotions. Then one fine day, I simply decided to "change my mind".

I'm sure you will relate to what I have just stated and will be able to count on your fingers many personal situations that are affecting you, like they had been affecting me. It does not matter what has caused you stress in the past and how you have gone about tacking it. What counts is that you have identified stress and have decided to fight it with every possible stress-busting technique at your disposal.

So, how can my technique - "Change your mind" - help you in reducing stress? It's very elementary - We may take things as they come hurtling at us, but we tend to categorize them as GOOD and BAD. If we change our mind, then we can start looking at the "bad" things from a different angle. You know something? - Have you ever thought that what appears bad to us today may actually benefit us in the long run?

This is the only secret behind my stress-busting technique. Change your way of interpreting circumstances and situations, and start thinking positive. If you ponder over a situation that has gone wrong and keep sulking about it, the whole negativity will get to you. So, what you need to do is re-look at the situation again and ask yourself if you see any GOOD, however little, in it - rather than focus only on the BAD aspect. Remember the old adage "There is a silver lining in every dark cloud"?

Okay, okay. I kind of agree with you that finding goodness in a mess is like finding a needle in a haystack, but I also believe that if you look hard enough then you will be able to find it. And, once you do, adversities will turn into opportunities, and your stress levels will begin coming down.

Let's take a common example: At the end of every month, any salaried person's blood pressure goes through the roof because the due date for bills is around the corner and the money is not enough to even run the family show. Enough reason to stress out even the most balanced and composed person. He may worry and he may fret, hems and haw, but his stress is not going to go away - rather, it will only increase while the bills will remain as they are. So, I advocate that instead of getting all stressed up, the person must face the situation squarely and squeeze out the goodness from it.

You must be laughing by now! Squeeze out goodness from such a hopeless situation? "Impossible!" is what you will say. But, hey, hang on a bit and think about it - if this person interprets this situation as a cue to start hunting for a better-paying job and manages to find one too, he will be better able to eliminate this stress-causing factor. Get the point buddy?

So, you can view a problem as a problem or view it as a situation that is inspiring you to change for the better. Remember, the cause of your stress is not going to go away until it is resolved - your bills are not going to stop coming, the only option for you is to create some means of paying them.

One good thing that may come about in the above-mentioned situation could be a part-time job, and you know well that a part-time job will rob you of some quality leisure time. But, remember, there's no easy come, easy go. If you want to gain something, you will have to sacrifice something.

In the end, remember that a stressful situation can be a facilitator to happiness if you interpret it positively and make it work in your favor.

Okay, I know that this report was kind of brief, but I hope it has made you decide to at least give my stress-busting technique a fighting chance. So, face the stressful situation head on, turn it around, "change your mind", and make it work for you instead of against you. And, oh yes, you can relax now!