Unless you are dead, your body reacts to stress! Even then, the body decays, which is a reaction to the effects (stresses) of its surrounding upon it. Stress is anything external or internal that exerts some sort of pressure on your body and mind. We cannto get away from it 100%. A yogi can reduce his heart rate to 1 beat per minutes, but this is still stress. We need these types of stresses in order to live. To much - a rapid or irrgular heartbeat, can be deadly. We live best in the center between such extremes.

Gravity is stress. It is the stress of gravity that keeps our bones hard, so that's why exercise is important. But gravity is stress nonetheless and on the moon, there is less of it. However, if certain physicians fulfill their dreams to install a chronic untreatable hypertensive's clinic on Luna, the patients will never be able to return to earth because their blood pressure will skyrocket such back home that massive strokes will result when they undergo G-forces to renter Earth's gravitational field.

Thus, so, gravity can be food and bad, and so can many other stresses. We need to learn to manage bad stresses because we cannot get away from them entirely.

It is stress, after all, that made B.T. Irritablepants into the Hubber B.T. Evilpants, by his own admission. Or, perhaps that's by MY admission.

However, even though we cannot escape all stressors all of the time, we can lessen the load that they place upon us.

One thing we can do is to INNOCULATE ourselves against stress regularly - every day, without even using a needle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMBiDZdj5WM

Make yourself a Stress Inoculation Checklist and use it every day, or hang it up where you will be sure to see it on a daily basis either at the start or end of the day. You may have several other entries to add, or you may want to begin with just one or two and gradually add others.

1 - Use a schedule, leave empty spaces in it to ensure that you will not be over-booked, and do not be a slave to the telephone and the email. Recognize the tines you need help and ask for it, where it is at work, at school, at home, or elsewhere. Eliminate needless, unfulfilling, time-wasting activities.

Unless your living comes from talking on the phone -- If you're running a business or have a lot of face-to-face appointments in your work - even if you write all day - make a schedule to answer phone calls and email: 1) beginning of the workday, 2) after lunch, 3) end of the workday. Return these communications on the same type of schedule, unless it is a real emergency. Stick to the schedule, but be aware that others will try to bully you out of it. You may have to compromise at times with your boss and others, but not the majority of the time.

I once unfortunately experienced an 8-year-old student that was not doing so well, take his parents' landline phone into a closet at 11:00PM, dial my number, and demand to know who was being tested to higher ranked martial arts belts over him. I hung up, got a new cell phone number, and refused to give it out. Eliminate inappropriate interactions.

And remember - You are not a better person if you always do the work of two people and are always over-booked. You are fine already! Often, this will not earn you a promotion, but grind you into the ground while others earn the promotions. Extra work occasionally or on special projects is fine; too much all the time is a symptom of a problem.

Stress causes a lack of sleep and lack of sleep causes stress. How bad is that?!

Determine and accept the number of hours of sleep you need to function at your best while you are awake. Stick to it as much as possible.

Trouble sleeping? - Relax before going to bed by listening to music, reading, or performing deep breathing and light stretching exercises. Avoid the caffeine and alcohol at bedtime. If you are taking prescribed medications, ask your doctor if any of them alone or in partnership could be the culprit(s).

Poor nutrition is a stressor, while stress itself can cause nutritional problems.

The larger the overall stress, the more good nutrition is needed. Proteins, B-Complex vitamins, A & C vitamins, magnesium and other elements and factors are used up as the body enters "fight or flight" status, unless one has been mentally and physically trained to avoid the flight-or-flight response.

Skipping meals too often, eating unhealthy snack foods, using too much caffeine, and gorging or binging on food create additional stresses. Eating one candy bar will reduce your immune system's function for 24 hours. Poor eating overall results in blood sugar problems, reduced immune response, fatigue, and mental health issues. Head it off before it happens.

You lose productivity over the course of a few hours, whether you believe it or not. You are not a better person because you do not take breaks. You are fine and don't have to prove how un-lazy you are.

I had an acquaintance that prided (that was the problem) herself in not taking breaks and not using the bathroom at her job for the full nine hours of work every day. She later died after total loss of bladder control for several years and a dozen stress-related conditions and illnesses.

So, do something relaxing and fun for a short break. Ten minutes away from any stressful situation can work wonders, because while you are in that stress you are "stuck in a loop." Break that bondage. Take time to laugh as well. Remember something funny that Alton Brown did - or Jerry Lewis or Bernie Mac, or your neighbor or a child.

And remember - Some others will not like you so much for taking breaks because you are taking care of yourself. Do so anyway.

A large survey for US Healthy People 2000 goals found that most people in the 1980s - 1990s felt that no one should exercise over the age of 30 and women should not exercise at all. Many felt that no one should exercise after high school graduation.

What!? Yes, that is how Americans felt.

The more limber, flexible, and strong you are, the better you can handle stress.

Exercise is itself also relieves stress. The more stress, the more you need exercise. You can be physically challenged and still exercise, even it is finger or tow exercises. If unable to move, we have passive exericse for you. for an explanation see this link: Fat Burning Exercises.

Paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve had begun to move his hands and legs again but died, because he could not move enough, quickly enough, to fight off infections. So keep moving or you may gradually find yourself stuck, unmovable.

Further, the brain releases substances called "endorphins" during laughter, during exercise, and during sex that increase the general well being and DECREASE PAIN. Exercise increases circulation to wash toxins out of your body as well. Exercise can accomplish a lot.

Read more about our exericsing electric eels at B.T. Evilpants For President.

Clutter raises the blood pressure and feelings of depression in some people. For others, it causes or raises anxiety levels. It provides a sense of imbalance and crowding.

Set a timer for 10 minutes and clean a small spot of clutter. Do this once a day for a week and see how much you have accomplished. Continue in this manner and skip a day a week. I do this all the time and have nearly beat clutter. Recycle whatever you can of the clutter and purchase eco-friendly products and services.

A negative comment to you or from you will reduce your own immune system strength for 24 hours. A positive comment will increase it for 48 hours [Ohio State University Hospitals, Ohio State Bureau of Workers Compensation, Rehabilitation Division/Health Psychology Unit, and others]. Which would you rather have?

Learn to deal with anger and to solve problem situations, if you have not already done so. Then start of a log of Beautiful Things or events you see or hear about and put something into it every day. Read through it to remind yourself of joy.

For more on positive thought, see Zig Zigler: Zig Ziglar, Inc.

I once listened to a single one of his tapes that included humor over 50 times in one week.