Stress

Stress is not an alien term to anyone. As teenagers, we often put up with stress on a daily basis. I remembered how my mum used to tell me without hesitating to repeat it over and over again: “Those days, we could not even afford a hand phone. Even if we did, they would not fit into our pockets. You are so lucky nowadays.”

I do not give two hoots about my mother’s rants as much as the next teenager, but what she said does apply. Being born into a fortunate era has made most of us more vulnerable and easily threatened by obstacles.

Just think about it, every little thing in our daily lives appears stressful to us. Woke up 30 minutes late on a Chemistry quiz day? Stress. Got to school and realised you did not study section 3.5 on page 154? Stress. Could not find a single 2B pencil in your bag during the PMR objective test? Stress. Had a public fight with your girlfriend in the hall right after your test without knowing what you were fighting about afterwards? STRESS,

It is simply too easy to trigger that little stress button at the back of our minds. It all builds up to form stressors, and stressors, of course, cause stress that encourages people to act out in unfavourable ways.

The first step to overcome stress is to learn more about it. Things would be more manageable when we realise what we are actually dealing with.  Prioritising and time management helps as well , as it helps us determine what is most important, and what we should avoid fussing over.

For example, realising that the Chemistry quiz tomorrow is vital to your studies will steer you towards making the right decision to turn down the outing to town with your friends. By doing so, you’d have ample time to go through section 3.5 on page 154 at least three times, wake up 30 minutes earlier on the test day and packed extra 2B pencils, all nicely sharpened; finish your test 10 minutes earlier and not bump into your girlfriend in the hall. What seemed to be a strenuous and hectic day would simply turn stress-free without us having to completely reconstruct our lives.

Stress is born in the brain and it wounds the brain. Therefore, another effective option to combat stress is to stay positive. You may be thinking, “easier said than done”. I agree. But by mentally convincing ourselves that there are some things that we cannot control, we can minimise potential heartache when it comes to dealing with dissatisfying outcomes.

We have to also understand that stress isn’t always the enemy. Positive stress helps us strive, and can act as motivation. But as we all know, too much of a good thing gives an opposite effect. We should never let stress conquer our minds or be the excuse to bring out the worst in us.

As entrepreneur and lifestyle author Bill Phillips said, ‘stress should be a powerful driving force, not an obstacle”. Don’t let stress dominate you; be its master instead. Have a happy stress-free life!

(522 words)

Writer: Carmen Khor, Sunway University

Adapted from : R.AGE Star 2 Friday 14 September 2012