Our every day life is characterized by circumstances that bring pressure and inhibit our normal functioning. This is what is referred to as stress. However, it is important to keep in mind that, allowing stress to take over will not do anything to sort your problems. The best way to handle stress is to be armed with stress management strategies to keep you going and to help relieve the pressure.

Stress management begins when you realize that, you alone are in control of your life. It is about taking charge of what you allow your mind to think about, what emotions you allow to run through you, how you plan your schedule and your approach to your problems. Once you are aware of this, you will begin to realize that only you have the capacity to make the most out of these factors for your own good.

Stress management is also about being able to meet problems head on without postponing the task. The goal should be to achieve a balanced life that encompasses all aspects; work, play, leisure, relationships and spirituality. Identifying the source of an unpleasant situation is not always a very easy thing to do. This is because the stressing factor could be a combination of more than two elements in the environment around you. For example, your source of stress could be family and work pressures. Another source could be your own negative thought patterns that you may not even be aware of.

Once you have identified the source of the stress, you must start working on it. Look at the way in which you respond or react to the situation, and which just plays a part in making the situation worse. Establish other ways in which you could handle the situation, and which would lessen the intensity of the stress. Decide to always apply that mechanism whenever a similar situation arises.