This is Number Sixteen Bazillion and One

There are approximately sixteen bazillion articles out there on stress and how to reduce it.  What this means is that no one has actually found the One True Way.  (Personally, every time I find a list compiled by experts to address any problem and it includes “Drink plenty of water,” I conclude that no one really knows what to do; drinking water isn’t going to hurt, but if that’s the best advice available, we’re all screwed.)  (That said, dehydration is bad for stressed people, so we all probably should be drinking more water.)  (I like parentheses.)

Here is the thing:  a great many of those articles list techniques for dealing with symptoms.  Let me suggest:  deal with the real problems.

Yes, this is the Hard Way.  It might mean figuring out how to leave that abusive job/partner/habit.  It might mean a temporary increase in stress as we figure out how to fit taking care of our health or finances or aging parent or obstreperous child in with all the other stuff we already have to do.  But finding the good and healthy solutions, in the long term, is the best way to deal with the stress for good.

If one of those stressors is health-based, it really is worth it to get sweaty and eat the vegetables and heft the weights.  I’m here to help.