by LucyBlue

Created on: February 10, 2007   Last Updated: May 15, 2007

"Stress" is simply a word for being upset by circumstances - thinking and feeling in ways that feel less than happy, content, free and at ease. Therefore the solution is to think and feel differently.

This is of course easier said than done, yet is by no means impossible for most anyone. Sometimes it takes the help of a great guidebook or good counselor to get started and stay on the path to feeling/thinking in ways you like better. The most important decision is to commit yourself to feeling better, no matter what is going on externally. With that intention, you let all the levels of yourself know your goal and now all of you can line up to assist.

How we feel is determined by how we think. Consequently, the most important gift we will ever give ourselves is to be aware of how/what we think and decide we are in charge of that, as no one else can be. Each of us has free will, meaning we have the power to decide what we will think and thus how we will feel.

It is not usually easy to change a lifetime of negative thinking, yet it is simple. Determine that you will focus your attention on what you appreciate, and then allow that feeling of gratitude to become more and more how you feel all the time. You cannot feel stressed when you are filled with appreciation. With practice, feeling grateful can eradicate most feelings of stress.

When you are feeling less stressful, more joyous and at ease, you handle situations in your life differently than when you are stressed. All of us make better, more balanced choices when calm than when hysterical. By making new decisions, you begin to change the situations in your life that have contributed to your stress.

So the solution to dealing with stress is to change how you think, thus changing how you feel, thus changing the decisions you make which are creating the circumstances of your life. There are many teachers, many books, which can help with this process. I speak from personal experience, as I spent many years depressed and suicidal, which is extremely stressed, and can thankfully say that I've not been depressed since 1987. It's all in how you think.

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