In everybody’s life, there are times when things are not going right. Sometimes there are multiple issues are going on at same time and we may feel overwhelmed. In my own life, there are times that there are issues regarding my work, finances and my family at the same time. Even though I speak and write about peace of mind, sometimes I still have a difficult time keeping myself calm. Sometimes it seems that my knowledge and rational mind cannot help, and my emotions take over. So, I have been thinking and researching about what we can do in the difficult times, to pass through and not get too overwhelmed and as the result make more mistakes and even bring more stress to the rest our family. This article is the first of my series of articles about stress and peace of mind.

The events that are causing us stress, are called stressors. Stressors can be psychological or physical. Psychological stressors are things like moving, a divorce or the loss of a loved one. Physical stressors are things like trauma as the result of accident.  Sometime stressors like an accident can be both physical and psychological.

The outcome of our interactions with the demands of the environment is called stress. Stress can be acute or chronic. Acute stress is typically short- lived such as taking a test and after it’s passed the body returns to its normal state. Chronic stress is prolonged stress that exists for weeks or years such as chronic illness or family issues.

Our response to the stressor is called the stress response. This response depends on the individual. The same stressor (the same event) can have different meanings for different people, which is why they respond differently. The key to managing stress is the stress response. This is because we can control our response to the stressor. We may not have control over the stressor itself.