There seems to be a lot of talk about stress now a days.  A lot of people are stressed out.  It is even common to hear primary school children talking about they are stressed.  Stop and think about it and you know it’s a sad state of affairs, when primary school children are talking about being stressed out.

What’s the deal with all of this stress and its negative impact on our world.  You can’t get on the computer without being confronted with it.  You can’t watch the news without hearing all about it.  Most all of us at some time or another and possibly right now would consider ourselves stressed.

We tend to think that people, events and circumstances of life are the cause of our stress. We like to blame it on people we work with, live beside or even randomly encounter.  It might be the weather, our 401k or a relationship that’s taken a left turn.

Reality is – Bad things happen!  The economy bombs, we struggle, people disappoint, dreams fail and life just does not always work the way we want it to.  We often only see this bad stuff happening to us, but it happens to everybody.

Why is it that some people are stressed and some are not?  What’s the difference between the two?  CHOICE!  Stress is a choice.  Yes – something always comes along to trigger it, but still we have a choice about how we respond to the trigger.

I choose my response.  I decide my emotion.  I pick my reaction.  Stress is a choice and in my life, I am the one that decides if I am stressed or not.  It is true that others can have a big influence, but ultimately it is me that makes the choice to allow the influence to impact me in a negative or positive way.

Bottom Line:  Stress is the result of our choices.  You can be a victim or a victor?  You can give up control and be stressed or exercise control and grow?  It really is your choice – you decide for you.

Someone said “Stressed is Desserts spelled backwards!”  I am trying to make the right choice, trust that God has a plan for me through it all and since I get to decide for me, I think I’ll have another slice of pie!