Want a stress free holiday?

If your methods of coping with stress aren't contributing to your greater emotional and physical health, it's time to find healthier ones. There are many healthy ways to manage and cope with stress, but they all require change. You can either alter the situation or change your reaction. It's your choice, and we hope you choose the former.

Stress Management Strategy #2: Alter the situation.

If you can't avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Figure out what you can do to change things so the problem doesn't present itself in the future. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.

It is important to express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you don't voice your feelings, resentment will build and the situation will likely remain the same.
So here's something to try the next time you find that you've gone mute in a stressful situation. Visualize yourself in the driver's seat of your car, and your problems are hurtling toward you. Rather than taking a backseat in your life, deal with those problems head on. And do your best to anticipate and prevent them.

After all, a wise individual once said, "Most obstacles melt away when we make up our minds to walk boldly through them."