Stress. Inescapable, ever-present and all too often overwhelming, it is a major cause of billions of man-hours lost to a host of illnesses, lowered productivity, mental fatigue (and even more serious conditions), and just plain more stress. There are hundreds of web sites, tens of thousands of web pages out there detailing the many ways in which stress is created, how it manifests in us physically, emotionally and psychologically, and how you can deal with it, but reduced to simplest terms the bulk of the advice comes down to one thing.

Control.

Not too much control, of course --that in itself is another source of stress-- but a realistic and honest understanding of the things you can affect, and the changes you can put into effect.  A human control, not one based just on technological know-how and mastery, or only strongly rooted in  intellectual understanding, but one managed from the heart.

Think of the popular Serenity Prayer, well-known from various 12-Step programs (most notably Al-Anon).

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

The courage to change the things that I can;

And the wisdom to know the difference.

Happily enough, there's another version available, one which is slightly altered from what many think of as the original, and the alterations themselves make a very telling difference.



The courage to change things which should be changed. Heavy concept, isn't it? But this is the kind of control that can help you lead your stress and handle it instead of letting it handle you. You need to muster the guts to tackle the things which cause your stress, directly and in a no-nonsense fashion -- one that actually works for you, and not just looks like it's working. (Glitzy tech, sure-fire ways-and-means methodologies  and shiny doodads are tools. If you don't or can't use them in a way that lessens the burden on you, they're not doing what they're meant to do.)

Controlling stress is easier said than done. It takes a serious commitment, consistent focused effort and hard work (which will be addressed in the next part of this article). Think about it for a while, and take some time to answer a few questions:

• Where do you experience the most stress in your life right now?
• Where do you consistently experience stress?
• How do you deal with it? Are the ways you use to deal with stress working for you?

Once you have your answers, you can get a picture of where you are right now in terms of control.

Bonus links: Download a free de-stress kit (PDF) from Heartmath.org here. On a lighter note, for laughs and giggles visit the crazy lolcats here.

Coming in part 2: More ways to handle your stress