HAPPY STRESS?

As we cannot avoid some degree of stress, it pays to know how to cope with it effectively. There are three suggested coping strategies: (1) learning how to behave in various situations to minimize stress, (2) recognizing the source of stress, and (3) finding the level of stress at which we are most comfortable.

We can learn to adapt to stressful situation on the basis of similar experiences in the past. It is not usually stress that bothers us, but rather how we deal with it. If we don't recognize the source of the stress, we can't deal with it successfully. We frequently take out frustrations on the wrong object. Once we identify the source accurately, whether it is physical or emotional, we have a chance of bringing our response under control. Finding the level of stress at which we are most comfortable allows us to discover the positive values that some kinds of stress may give us. If we are doing something we like, we are most likely to handle either frustrations or conflict effectively.