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Our lives are filled with stress. It is all around us, everywhere we look. There are deadlines to meet, unexpected traffic jams, overloaded schedules, and difficult people. The negative effects of stress have been well documented over time. They include high blood pressure, insomnia, irritability, and various other chronic conditions that are having a significant affect on society. While there are many times that you are not able to control stressful situations, you can control how you react to them. The secret to transforming stress lies simply in how you deal with the situation. Here are 5 simple tips that can help you transform your stress and live a happier life.

1. Recognize what is causing the stress. Awareness is key here. When you recognize what is causing the stress, it allows you to figure out how to deal with it. By ignoring it, nothing will change and you will have to continue dealing with the stress.

2. Put fuel in your tank. Allowing yourself time to decompress and unwind is very important. This is the fuel that keeps you going. Eating right can help as can meditation, relaxation techniques, yoga, walking, and deep breathing exercises. Find what relaxes and reenergizes you and allow yourself to have a few minutes of personal time each day.

3. Examine your standards about the stressor. Are your standards too high? Are they realistic? It may be necessary to adjust your standards to reduce your stress. Be sure to set your standards at a realistic and achievable level.

4. Seek support. Find someone that can help you deal with the stressor in a healthy way. Talking about it or getting assistance can help reduce or eliminate the stress. Getting help can be as simple as talking to a friend. For more extreme levels of stress, a licensed counselor, therapist or life coach could help you find a healthy way of managing stress.

5. Create an action plan. Learn from the stressful situation and develop an action plan to deal with that situation when it arises again. This will help you manage your reaction to the situation in the future.

Although we can't control many of the stressful situations in our lives, we can control how we react to them. By transforming stress in this manner, we are better able to manage ourselves and keep our stress levels as low as possible. Take action this week and find your main sources of stress. Look for ways to adjust how you deal with those situations and see how much you can lower your stress. The positive benefits are worth the effort!

Learn more about this author, April Mims.
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