I must say that the last few days have been more stressful than normal. In my life, there have been many changes and most of them happened very quickly. Stress is a basic part of life. We need a certain amount of stress to remain healthy. But when things get too stressful the body sends out triggers. Some get headaches, stomachaches or experience high blood pressure.

For me, it’s a headache and I become angry for seemingly no reason. The bills keep coming and increasing. Rent went up this year, I just added a car payment last week and my writing community that I love just changed my deadline again. Here’s where I take a deep breath. How am I going to handle all of this? My answer is to adjust. Some people adjust the stressful changes well and others do not. I tend to be more flexible in rearranging my schedule and my finances to fit my needs. Others it takes longer for the shock to wear off or to adjust.

So how can others manage their stress? One of the biggest things I’ve found is to identify the stressor. In my life, I have two: sudden change and when someone yells at me irrationally.

So what do you do? When it comes to sudden change I’ve learned to adapt. Whether it be changing my schedule to fit the deadlines or rearranging my finances a little to meet the billing demands, I’ve learned to adjust. And as for the irrational behaviors of others towards me, I’ve learned to change my reaction. Instead of yelling back or using the same irrational behavior I’ve learned to let it roll off and walk away. Not always easy when I work in a call center and the calls are coming back to back, but I manage.

Things that work for others is to get out and get active. The closest I get is a walk to the library once a month after I’ve had a chance to finish a book and parking farther away from the door at work each day.

The best thing for me is connecting to others. I like going out and meeting people on Friday nights at karaoke at the local bar. And yes I do get up and sing too. That relieves a lot of my stress. I also get out and visit family nearby before work and on my days off. My aunt lives nearby so I visit her and the kids she babysits. Besides that, my apartment complex doesn’t have a laundromat so I’m back over at my parents once a week to do laundry too.

The biggest stress reliever for me though: writing! I write every day. What I write about changes from day to day. Some days I create a story about my daily life. Other days I write a new poem or I’m inspired to write a new set of lyrics. Sadly I can’t write the music with it. Most days I feel better just putting all of my efforts in my latest project. Right now I’m in the process of a musical.

Don’t forget, stress is normal. Stress is healthy. It’s how you handle the stress that makes the difference between a healthy lifestyle and an unhealthy one.