Tell me if this has happened to you? You’re sitting with your hands tightly gripped to the steering wheel, your stress level rising by the second.  You have exactly five minutes before you have to get to daycare, and there’s an accident creating traffic.  After you pick up your child (who may or may not have kept you up all night), you’ll have to go to the supermarket, rush home for dinner, bathe baby, put him or her to bed and then you have the rest of your life you have to manage!

          Life can be highly stressful.  The good news is that there are techniques you can use in order to bring your stress level under control.  Following is 6 ways to avoid both situational and general life stress:

1. Rehearsing. 
   • Let’s say you are preparing for a job interview.  You can role play, with your spouse, roommate or friend playing the part of the interviewer and you as the interviewee.  In this way, you can practice your answers to likely questions.  Knowing what to expect in advance can help you to control your stress level in the actual moment.
2. Empathetic Framing:
   • Let’s suppose you have had a disagreement with your co-worker.  You’re worried that you will never be able to enjoy camaraderie with your co-worker again.  Now, you’re freaked out that you’ve burned a bridge.  You’ll be much better off if you see the disagreement as a challenge you must simply work your way through.  Look at the debate as a discussion between two intelligent people.  Try your best to see the other person’s perspective.  In this way, you’ll be engaging in problem-solving rather than complaining, and your stress may be reduced because of it. 
3. Anger Management: 
   • It is often not a particular situation, but your reaction to it, that causes your stress level to climb.  I remember Rage Against the Machine once claimed, “Anger is a gift”. I must disagree! Don’t let your anger control you. You have a choice to be angry or not, choose not. Anger is a choice. Your reaction to circumstance is a choice. Our ability to navigate this is what separates us from animals. Choose the way of solution vs anger and your stress will fall away like pounds after an Insanity workout!
4. Try your best to curtail negative thinking:
   • Whenever a negative thought comes to mind, think the exact opposite positive version of that thought and stick with it.  Or if all your thinking is negative, just try to stop thinking. I’ll literally tell myself, stop thinking, stop thinking.  The idea here is to put an end to negative thinking—to, in effect, put it on the shelf so that you don’t have to worry about it.  You’ll be surprised how relaxed you feel, once you stop engaging in negative thinking. 
5. Remember you are a 1 of 1:
   • Self-esteem matters.  Being hard on yourself can produce a great deal of stress.  Once you recognize that you are a person worthy of love, you will be better able to cope with the stressors that come your way. 
6. Exercise:
   • It’s a proven fact that individuals who exercise have better outlooks on life. Go watch Legally Blonde if you need a reminder!
7. Set and accomplish goals for yourself.  
   1. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to knit.  Now is your golden opportunity.  Or maybe you’d like to run a marathon by the end of the year (this is one I did and changed my life).  The important thing is to set goals, to commit to them and go out and achieve them.  Once you reach your goal, you will likely feel on top of the world.  As you make progress toward your goal, you could find your stress level subsiding.    

        Stress relief is an on-going process.  You can’t expect to reduce your stress-level permanently in one day.  But, by taking the steps listed above, you might find yourself better able to deal with stress on a daily basis.  Remember that you may not be in complete control of what happens to you on any given day, but you can control your reaction to it.  By focusing on the positive, putting an end to negative thinking, and setting goals for yourself, you should find your stress level declining.  With less stress to worry about, you’ll find that life is more enjoyable.  Even that daily commute to the day care center might become more tolerable.