Hey guys! Me again. I wanted to talk about a topic that everyone feels and goes through, sometimes we talk about it but not many people go deep in and maybe figure out what causes it or how to overcome it.

My topic is stress. We get stress in many different ways. Maybe we thought when we started, "this will be fun!" So you pile it on yourself thinking you can take it all. But then as time goes on, it becomes more than you can carry and you start to, maybe lose interest in what you loved or, you may know that you still love it, so you try and make it work by piling more on yourself and that just causes more un-needed stress. I get really stressed a lot of times as well.

Some of you readers know that I work at Taco Bell. Well, this summer I have taken a lot more hours onto my shoulders. The hourly sum for my last two weeks was 79 hours and 57 minutes! That is a lot of hours! This means I get a good pay check, but it also means I am spending almost all my time at work.

One thing I never realized until I took on this many hours was how much people enjoy spending time with me. I also realized that the time I enjoy spending with my loved ones is deducted from and I have very little to spend with then. When I do have a free day, everyone wants to spend time with me. I end up stuck trying to spend time with everyone while still making money so I can save up for my long term goals. It can be very stressful for a lot of people to balance their relationships and heavy work schedule at the same time. If it is easy for so many people to feel stressed over this, what can we do to prevent the feeling of overstress?

Well, first we have to ask "what is stress?" The Internet says "anything that puts high demands on you or forces you to adjust can be stressful." But not all stress is bad. Stress is used everyday to help you survive. It is what our body uses to warn us of incoming danger. Sometimes we get used to that feeling of stress and feel it in some things that we might not otherwise stress about. This can be very dangerous.

When stress becomes overwhelming, it can lower your immune system and damage your health, mood, relationships, and quality of life. How can you get around this if everyone goes through it? Well, for one, maybe take a break from what ever it is you are doing that is putting a high demand on you and your mind. Just step away. A lot of times this is all it takes.

Imagine you are working on a complicated math equation and you can't figure it out. You are tired, it is late, you pushed this homework off till the last minute and now you are realizing that you don't understand it. This can be very stressful, because, maybe you do understand this topic, but this one question has you rethinking and doubting all your previous answers. Just step away. This will clear your mind and give you a fresh insight to the rest of the problem, sometimes this is all it takes to be like, "oh wow! Duh! Brain fart!" But, other times, you need to completely temporarily forget about what is stressing you out.

A lot of people find this hard, but if you can't stop stressing about something, this may be the next step in helping relieve your stress. Imagine you have a big party to plan, and you have a lot to do, but can't do any of it till you get to this one place and it feels like nothing is being done to move in the direction of actually leaving for that place and you are getting irritated or maybe even mad.

I have found the best way to deal with this is to realize that there is nothing I can do except what I am asked to do, to be more ready to go. I can't make people move faster, and my getting mad won't change anything. All I can do is wait and hope they realize the importance of the task at hand, if they don't already.

I have found that the best thing to do is first walk away from the situation, then think about something that gives me joy, or text someone who can make me laugh when I am stressed and just completely forget about the task at hand because there is nothing I can do but worry about what I need to do. This is very un-needed, not to mention a waste of your time. Just let that stress roll off of you.

Results from friends I have done this with and personal experience is that, this actually really helps. It gets your mind to concentrate on something else and like I said before, it gives you fresh insight on a situation and you are able to think much more clearly about your next move.

I hope this helps you guys to realize where your stress may be coming from, but also, how to get through it. Like I said, I have personally used these methods and they really help. Don't believe me? Try it. 😉

Thanks guys!

Kenton Caudill