Stress sort of funny. Not *chuckles* funny, but *strange* funny. It can make you act heroic, or it can destroy your health and life.

What stress does to you seems to hinge on how much stress you have and what sorts of stress. It can also hinge on what your past has taught you about stress - how you have learned to react to stress.

The physical signs of stress are supposed to help you survive - fight or flight. In the modern world, this is very rarely any help. Most stress today is psychological.

Psychological stress will stem from problems such as worry about money, family, and your health. Your body's physical reaction to stress does not do anything for these situations. Because these kinds of situations are quite common and long-term, your body can be experiencing a constant state of stress.

This is what causes stress related health problems as varied as headaches, insomnia, trouble thinking clearly, depression and digestion problems. Health problems from stress eventually just increases the stress you already have.

Common sense tells you that managing your stress is important. There are all kinds of people and companies that will offer advice, products and services to help your stress. If every option worked the same for everyone, that would not be a problem. But, we're all different. What works for your friend, may not work for you.

I believe it will help you find your appropriate stress management tools by becoming more aware of what creates your stress and how you experience it.

It can be helpful to decide of your stress is situational or behavioral - Is your stress reaction appropriate for the current situation or does it feel blown out of proportion? Figuring this out can require some brutal honesty on your part.

If your stress is situational, what are the situations and can they dealt with in a practical way? Do you have the time and energy to get some form of exercise and a proper diet? (I know from personal experience, if I have high stress, it is when my life is too busy to work-out or get to the grocery store for planned meals. That's when I need to slow down.)

If it is behavioral, spending some time looking at the situation analytically may help. Look at your past and see if it is affecting your present, such as memories of past emotional trauma. (The stronger the emotion, the more vivid the memory. The more vivid the memory, the stronger the stress you will continue to feel from it.)

When you better understand your past, you are better able to find ways to effectively deal with it.

Stress from current situations is easier to manage, once you find what works for you. Stress from behaviors or past experience may need outside help to get through and may take a little longer to deal with. But, it IS possible, and IS worth doing.

If you have a behavioral stress controlling your life, seek professional help. Medication is sometimes an answer, though many people that have used medication for stress, experience side effects that are a trade-off. They sometimes say they would rather feel stressed than live in a daily fog of medication.

Look into your options and find what fits for you. Then, make use of them. When it comes to improving your life, the only poor choice is to not make a choice.