Stress: the mental stimulus that relates to all people regardless of race, gender, religion, or political affiliation. It is, at its core, the most basic human fight-or-flight reaction that has evolved over generations to firmly take root at the helm of every situation we find difficult to handle.

Some people take stress as it comes and embrace it, while others let stress control them. Being able to manage stress is very important; successfully juggling all of the different areas of your life without losing control can be vital to good health. There are several main factors to keep in mind; however, the thing to remember is that balance is the key.

Stress is usually caused when you perceive an event or situation as threatening. Being able to manage the situation depends on your ability to stay and confront the problem, take it in stride, or turn and run away. A long morning commute versus being yelled at for being late for example, are two vastly different scenarios, but stressful situations that we can relate to.

Learn to identify the things that cause the most stress, depending on which area of your life these difficult things fall into. Whether stress arises from your work, home life, sudden events, or your personal expectations, identifying the source of the tension is the first step towards learning to avoid stress.

It is possible to work out a balance to all the different tasks that guide your life, once you figure out where your sources of tension stem from. This is the pre-cursor to the most difficult part of the process; separating all aspects of your life that keep you busy, and planning them out in such a way that you can handle events and situations as they come along. This may sound repetitive by now, but balance is important.

Separate your chores, work, relationships, leisure time, and any other foreseeable tasks in the near future into neat categories; then deconstruct everything and rebuild it in your mind, until you are satisfied you can take stressful situations in stride without breaking down or burning out.