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Unhappy at Work? A Change is Coming – We all cant be astronauts, professional athletes, dolphin trainers or test pilots — some of us have to work for a living. Im not implying that the people in those professions dont actually work, Im suggesting that some jobs might not seem like work. Unfortunately, I dont have one of those jobs and Im guessing you dont either. For the majority of us, work is a daily grind of repeating the same repetitive task day after day, month after month, year after year while spending eight or more hours a day with arrogant bosses and surly co-workers.

There is, however, hope for us drones. A change is coming. It may not be today, tomorrow or even this year, but your present situation will change. It has to, its the law. Okay, maybe not the law, but it is a law. Its known as ‘The Universal Law of Impermanence’, which states that everything changes. Some change comes rapidly and some change takes eons, but eventually everything changes. You could find another job, get a promotion or transfer, or maybe your unfair boss or troublesome colleague will leave. Eventually the situation will change — it has to.

Confucius said Find a job you love and youll never have to work another day in your life. If that sounds good to you, you probably dont want to wait eons for it to occur. Buddhism teaches us that we can either wait for the change to occur naturally, or we can initiate the change. Its the difference between taking control of our lives or leaving it all up to the whim of the universe.

How much time have you spent actually trying to improve your situation? Sure, complaining is easy but it accomplishes very little. Have you actually looked for another job? Have you tried to improve your skills through in-house training, adult learning centers, books or correspondence courses? If none of these options are available to you, have you tried creating a better relationship with your boss and co-workers? Even the smallest step in the right direction is progress.

There is no one solution that is perfect for everyone — we all have unique situations, but if we are persistent and creative enough there are always options available to begin the process of change. Some people believe that finding happiness at work is as elusive as finding the Holy Grail, but how will you know until youve really tried?

You can help speed up the process of change or you can wait for it to occur naturally. Either way, a change is coming — its a law.

How You Can Find Stress Relief – Although we can never totally eliminate stress we must be able to manage stress, and find stress relief, especially the prolonged stress which will indeed cause many ill effects on your health.

In many ways we can eliminate much of our stress by the way we perceive things. There are many things in life in which we have little or no control over. Things such as traffic jams and the way others act. If we react to these things in a way that adds stress to our lives many of our bodily functions shut down and prevent our bodies from keeping ourselves healthy and youthful.

Much of our stress can be relieved by the way we perceive things. In many cases we are stressed out by things we have no control over. If we can do something about a situation then we should act on it to resolve the problem. If the situation is out of our control we would be better off just accepting it for what it is and focus our attention on something more pleasant or something that will enhance our day and our lives.

The body reacts to stress by producing a flood of chemicals that shut down important but not vital functions to survival. This constant supply of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline and the suppression of growth hormones and other healing hormones that help your body heal after stress, will damage your body and have a negative effect on your health over time.

Some ways you can control the amount of stress you encounter is to monitor a few things about the so called stressful situation you are in. Firstly ask yourself, am I in control of the situation that is upon me. Like I said earlier if the situation is beyond your control you must let it go. If there is something you can do about the situation then you must be in action and do something to resolve it.

Secondly you could identify to what extent your stress is the result of your interpretation of the situation, which in fact, relates to your beliefs and judgments. If you are caught up in the story of this always happens to me or are you always trying to prove something to yourself to reinforce a limiting belief you have about yourself or others. This can be a harmful cycle in which you will always generate unwanted stress in your life. Pay attention to see if the same situations come up and you get stressed out about similar things. Awareness to our beliefs and judgments can open doors to freedom within our consciousness.

The third thing that one can do is to learn to consciously adjust your reaction to what is happening in our lives. Learn to be calm in situations, to be focused and powerful in dealing with stressful issues. When we react all the time we are not in control and not being in control can add to feelings of recklessness. An out of control feeling is definitely a situation which can cause stress.

Besides the few perceptive ways to deal with stress just mentioned one can also start a program which will be more proactive and help you put your mind and body in a state that more readily handles situation as they arise. Proactive stress management techniques can be addressed with knowledge. Through personal development books or courses that teach you to be in more control of your life and to accept others for who they are, you can eliminate about fifty percent of your stress.

There are also courses in anger management if you feel you have an issue with anger. Many times anger is the end result of other emotions such as disappointment, jealousy, fear, or other emotions. Not being able to communicate this in a healthy manner and really understanding your emotions can lead to anger in almost any area of your life. The recognition of these emotions and the ability to communicate them to yourself and others can be a big stress releaser and put you in better control of your emotions and your life.

Of course eating well and exercising help your body to deal with stress. The release of good hormones through things such as yoga, aerobic, meditation, breathing exercising or weight lifting greatly help your body deal with stress, firstly by having a means to release the stress through the physical activity and secondly these activities enable the body to produce the healthy endorphins and healing hormones into your body.

Other ways to reduce stress is to engage in something you love to do. Get your mind off the situation that is causing you stress. By having a hobby that you just love to do such as gardening, playing a musical instrument, stained glass or whatever gets your mind focused on something you love. Usually something creative opens you up a totally different space within you.

And of course my two favorite thing to relieve stress, laughter and good supportive friends. Go see a funny movie or go out with supportive friends to a comedy club. Spend good quality time with them and share your love, dont complain about your stressful situation unless you discuss it to find possible ways of resolving the situation and then end the conversation and have some fun.

Listen, stress can kill you and the more and more scientist explore this issue the more and more they know that almost all disease can manifest from stress and ill thoughts. Choose to deal with stress in a positive way. Find the way to incorporate stress relief practices into your life and help you mind, body and spirit live a healthier more fulfilled life.

Coping With Stress Its Effects On Your Skin And Health And Turning Back The Clock – Stress comes in many forms, workplace stress, family stress, grief over loss of a loved one, etc… Some can be avoided, but as we know, many cannot. Some people handle stress better than others, and some even thrive onit.Regardless, stress takes its toll.

Stress has been proven to rid your body of many essential vitamins and minerals. Particularly vitamins C, E, and B. This leads to lethargy, lower focussed mental activities (clinically stress causes more erratic brain activity and a reduction in short term and long term memory), drying out and aging of the skin (in some), and in others a increase in the sebaceous gland activity – which usually brings postules, acne, and rosacea – which all bring more stress as we then become more entangled in how others view our physical appearance.

We cannot stop all stress, but we can take steps to stop or limit its toll on our skin and body. Take a full vitamin suplament every day. Eat a well balanced diet – especially fish meat like salmon (high in omega 3’s which is proven to increase brain function and cellular activity, but it also is proven to reduce the aging process of the skin and make cuts and bruises heal faster). Eat more raw fruits and vegetables – atleast 5 servings per day – you will see a notable difference in 4-6 weeks and you will feel better (along with better colon health.

Exercise more often. Aerobic exercise has been proven to release powerful hormones that actually counteract the harmful chemicals and results of stress as it will also improve your bodys abilities to cope with oxidants.

I can’t say enough about meditation and prayer. Study after study have proven a reduction in every skin and body malody even cancer symptoms from people that pray and meditate daily. Take 20 minutes every day and do this you will also live longer.

The latest rage is skin peels for a quick fix. Skin peels will slough off the top layers of skin and reveal fresher, cleaner skin. The most effective are TCA peels and phenol peels (phenol peels are dangerous and should only be performed by a licensed plastic surgeon). TCA, trichloroacetic acid, is a medium depth skin peel that works on the most skin ailments – aging skin, sun damage, even has been proven to treat and cure acne. No other skin peel can safely do all that a TCA peel can.

So there you have it – clear, younger skin in 500 words. Great advice to follow and don’t forget to always run anything new by your doctor. They are licensed for a reason and know whats best for you. by your doctor. They are licensed for a reason and know whats best for you.

Managing Stress Could Be Blessing In Disguise – Life with stress and life without stress- they are poles apart!

Some types of stress are inevitable. Some stresses are those over which you have no control. Plus, some one may be the cause of your stress; there are some types of stress of which you are the cause, and therefore you have to find its solution.

Mostly, the level of your stress and the level of your heartbeat go hand in hand. The greater the pounding, more intense is the level of the pressure. Nobody is happy to own the stress permanently. Hence, arises the question of managing the stress.

The causes of stress are innumerable. May be that it concerns your children, or the usual, unusual arguments with your spouse. A word of caution to the heart patients. Develop the trait of patience and avoid stress at all costs. Stress is the cause of many heart attacks.

Remember the cop managing the heavy traffic in a busy junction-he is the master of traffic rules, he has the assistance of red, yellow and green signals. He regulates, controls the rush of a large number of vehicles, with the assistance of these signals.

So, coping stress is all about stress management. Nobody likes to remain in a state of stress. But the style of life in the modern materialistic civilization, throws many types of stresses, without your asking for it. Rather, stress is forced upon you! Managing the stress assumes added importance here. Some of the following guidelines may help you in manging the stress:

1. Do not suppress your stress. Only you know the reason of your stress. Discuss your difficulties with your trusted ones, friends, relatives or with your spouse.

2. Do some deep breathing exercises, for 10-15 minutes everyday, sitting all alone.

3. Everything in the world is happening as it should. You are not the one to create all the problems or to solve all the problems. The perfect order or discipline that you want might not be available at all times. Carry on them, with the available discipline.

4. Temper is very valuable. Do not lose it. But if you are determined to lose it, do not respond to anyone at a high temperature level. Let things cool down. Time provides its own answers, for major part of your problems.

5. Think of the positive side of the issue. The strength of the negative side, will then automatically weaken.

Sometimes, a spiritual personality can help you more, for sure, than your psychologist or family doctor. Do not hesitate to surrender before the Perfect Master. He may bestow you with such grace, bless you with such positive thoughts that your stress may just float away, destination less and direction less never to return again.

Yes, this is not a vague assumption. This stress, could be your blessing in disguise.

Three Ways To Relieve Stress – Of all the ways to relieve stress, meditation may be one of the best, but what if you don’t have the time? What if you are having trouble with your meditation? Try one of the following three good techniques. They don’t even require any practice.

Breath To Relieve Stress

If you don’t feel like meditating or just don’t have the time, you can at least stop for one minute to just breath. Just breath deeply through your nose and let the tension drain from your muscles as much as possible. Give special attention to the tightness in your face and shoulders. Deep breathing, even for a minute, can relax you significantly.

Resolve Your Stressors

As I was sitting here getting ready to write this, something was bothering me. On reflection, I realized I’ve been putting off making a phone call. I needed to tell a acquaintance that I couldn’t testify in court as I said I would. She was disappointed, but as soon as I made the call I felt more relaxed.

Simply making decisions and taking action can be one of the most immediate ways to relieve stress. Take a moment whenever you feel stressed, identify the things in your mind that are contributing to your state, and then do something about them. That’s all there is to this simple technique.

Almost. Naturally, you can’t resolve everything that is bothering you at any given moment. Still, what you can do is take some action. Indecisiveness, waiting, wondering and worrying cause stress. Even if you just make a list of what you need to do, your mind will often let these things go. Start a list, talk to someone, make a decision – just do something to let the stressor go.

Do Things You Enjoy

On Friday nights, when I play chess at the coffee house, I don’t think about anything else for four hours. When you are totally engaged in an activity, there isn’t room for stressful thoughts. Fully engaged, though, usually means that it’s something we enjoy doing.

While physical activity has some advantages, you can try doing anything that you can put your whole mind into. That could be reading a good book, cooking, or playing with the dog. Notice which activities really engage you and let you drop your worries, and keep that mental list handy for whenever you are stressed. When your passionate activity is also your job or business, this can be one of the best ways to relieve stress.

A Basic Outline To Cope With Stress – Your ears might have heard countless number of times do this and get away from stress, or, do that, and you will be totally relieved of stress,turning you even more stressed out!!

Stop scratching your head over what to be or what not to be done. I have compiled a definite set of action plan to cope with stress in life. I have tried it in the past and it really helped. In fact, I have used them time and again.

This might help you as well, simply read on.

1. Beware of your own warning signs. For, this could just be a sudden feeling of anxiety.

2. Consider what is really causing stress to you? You may be surprised to find the fact.

3. Think over what you could do to change the things. Find out how much of stress is indeed caused by you?

4. At times, due to excessive stress we fall into vicious trap of not eating properly and go to ill practices such as smoking and drinking to further worsen the situation. Instead, you should try and eat a balanced diet.

5. Eat complex carbohydrates rather than refined ones. This will really help you cope with mood swings.

6. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and keep sugar and salt intake low.

7. Drink plenty of water, it will rehydrate your body. Try to keep caffeine consumption to the minimum.

8. Avoid nicotine or any other self prescribed drug.

9. Dont feel guilty about including a period of relaxation every day. We all need to turn off from time to time.

10. Do something that is creative and helps you relax. Say, listen music, do yoga, meditate, enjoy aromatherapy or any other stress busting exercise.

11. Learn to be more assertive and try to manage your time properly.

12. You can even consider attending a stress management training course.

13. Dont be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

These are certain steps that can truly help you cope with stress. It will work wonders for you. The choice is yours, if you wanna live with stress or acquire any of these good points to mar the stress out of your life.

Turn Holiday Hassles into Holiday Happiness – All too often we look forward to the Holidays only to become overwhelmed, stressed out and ultimately lose our joy. Here are a few things you can do to stay in the spirit of the season and enjoy it to its fullest.

First, ask yourself and your immediate family, how would you most enjoy celebrating the holidays?

This question will help you figure out what is most important to you about celebrating the holidays. It will also help you determine if you may be stressing yourself with false guilt, “should do’s” and fears of disappointing others. Take some time to talk with your family about what is really important to you and to them. Often times when we stop to ask the “how question” we discover what we thought was important to others really is not.

Next, begin looking at your schedule. Do you realistically have the time to do all the things you would like to and still maintain your sanity! Start by penciling in events on your calendar to help yourself manage your time effectively. Include things like decorating, cooking, shopping and wrapping gifts.

Be willing to compromise. For example if you have your heart set on decorating your house like Clark Griswald in “Christmas Vacation,” but time is of the essence, consider something simpler or eliminate something else.

Avoid perfectionist tendencies. For example: you want 12 ounce disposable cups for your party. But, when you get to Wal-Mart you can only find 8 ounce cups. Consider the time, energy and frustration you will expend traveling to other stores, in the holiday traffic, to find those 12 ouncers!

Finally, to turn holiday hassles into happiness you can do some very practical things like: set a budget and stick to it, pay in cash and avoid the New Years credit card blues and choose recipes you can prepare ahead of time. However, if you really want to make holiday memories this year focus on relationships rather than activities. Consider giving the gifts of kindness and service. And keep your mind on the Reason for the Season…celebrate Jesus Christ, the greatest gift of all.