As I get older and look back over the years

I start to wonder where all the years go. George Harrison once said in a song, “while I’m sitting here doing nothing but aging”.

Fortunately, when it comes to stress relief, most of us mellow with age.

It makes you think a little about what you do with your life. In relation to time, we’re only here for a flicker as it is. Getting stressed out over what life dishes out will tend to shorten our lives. Stress affects us mentally as well as physically.

Stressed out of control

It’s best to make a concerted effort to just let it go. For far to many years, little things would get under my skin and I would get stressed out. Now I use those three little words whenever things start get to me.

My words for stress relief are “let it go”. Do you have a saying or words you can tell yourself to help relieve stress in your life? Very simple to do and very effective. For stress relief methods, I would put this in there with taking a deep breath or counting to ten.

When you get stressed out

So when things get you stressed out, take a deep breath and just let it go. A line from the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life” sticks with me as I age. “Youth is wasted on the wrong people” sums it up pretty damn good. When we’re young we take so many things for granted. As we get older and wiser, how we handled stress over the years will likely show in our faces.

Ever walk through a crowded mall and notice the people around you? As we attempt to understand the affects of stress, we start to see it’s damage wherever we go. Don’t let stress damage you, just let it go!

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What are the signs of stress

With stress coming at us from so many sources, it can be difficult to manage. Stress affects each of us in different ways. Knowing some of the signs will help us to keep it under control.

Since stress is such an elusive condition, it can be difficult to know you are even being affected by it.

Know yourself

When things and events change in your life, the events can be cause for stress. We all handle each situation differently too. What is a major life crises to one person is just another relaxing day to someone else.

Buying a new home, changing jobs, your child’s first day of school. All these events affect each of us, whether you get stressed out or not, may just be a matter of perspective. While some will feel anxiety, others feel happiness.

Stress signs can be subtle

Subtle changes in our normal eating or sleep patterns can be a sign that stress is affecting us. More advanced signs can be depression, headaches or insomnia.

Extreme stress can also cause you to have high blood pressure or even heart disease. Some of us get tensed up and anxious when hit by stressful events in our lives. Aching muscles, backaches or even clumps of hair mysteriously falling out are all signs of extreme stress we should be aware of.

Catching stress early

Noticing the early signs of stress before they become extreme will help you get it under control. Stress is much easier to deal with if you get a grip on it early. Stress also affects how our bodies use nutrients too.

Eating healthy and getting proper nutrients in our diets helps our bodies fight stress. In fact many things we do will affect how our bodies burn nutrients. Smoking or physical activity eats up your nutrient reserves as well as stress.

With the hectic lives we live, eating healthy is nearly impossible. Taking a good multiple vitamin can help make up for any deficiencies. Having the right balance of nutrients along with some light exercise will do wonders for your stress control routine.

Relax a little, have some fun

With anything in life, good old fashioned rest and relaxation can do wonders for our ability to handle stress.

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