A short generation ago, families could set their watch by the time the father got home from work each day. My dad always walked through the front door at precisely 6 PM and supper was served at 6:10. We

I just got through reading some troubling news in the New York Times this morning.
62% of employees now say that work-related stress leaves them overwhelmed and overtired.
And for many of us, who bring work home from the office, the problem is even worse.
So what

The war, taxes, the economy, increased health problems, crime on the rise, overwhelming divorce rate, corruption in corporate America, and, oh yes, Janet at the Super Bowl! Where does it end With so much going wrong, whats going right in the world
It is times like these that I find myself mired down in the muck spewing forth from every media outlet. Like water dripping on a sponge, this negativity begins to seep in and pervade my thoughts and influence my reactions to the world around me. Often, a bad attitude or a grumpy mood can be traced directly to what I have been exposing myself to.
Look at many of the recent studies about TV violence and childrens behavior. The evidence is clear that the thoughts and actions of kids are significantly altered when exposed to violent acts for extended periods of time. Are adults any different Sure its important to keep up with current politics, the war, the economy and even Pop culture but when is enough, enough Dont get me wrong, Im not vowing to stick my fingers in my ears, close my eyes and yell, Find a happy place! Find a happy place!
I still follow the news. There are very significant events happening in the world these days and I do believe that it is important for me to be informed. I also enjoy watching a few TV shows. Just because Im cutting back on my media consumption doesnt mean that Im shutting the Soprano family out of my life! So a few people get whacked here and there. That doesnt mean that there are not some redeeming qualities to gangster life okay, so there arent. Regardless, the Sopranos and I been though too much together over the past six seasons and recently one of my favorite actors, Steve Buscemi, joined the cast.
I have, however, made a specific effort to be very aware of the information I consume. Along with this effort I have created a diet, of sorts. Balancing the protein, carbohydrates and fat that I eat is no different from balancing the harshness that I partake of from news and entertainment; all in moderation, with a little exercise on the side.
The moderation mantra is, of course, a good philosophy for most areas of life but most particularly for that, which enters our minds. I recently heard an NPR interview with Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was talking about the impact that health and fitness has had on his life and the role that it continues to play. He stated now, read this with your best Arnold accent, A healthy body is a healthy mind. While certainly this holds true Id like to take that a step farther using an Arnold accent, of course, A healthy mind is a healthy world! Ready for a diet
© 2004 by Dr. Robert A. Eubanks
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About The Author

Dr. Robert A. Eubanks is the founder of Bridge to Solutions Coaching. He coaches people around the country via telephone to improve organization, time management, goal setting and to create the best darn life possible! For a free 30 minute coaching session, e-mail bridgetosolutions@yahoo.com or visit www.bridgetosolutions.com.

"Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one." Hans Selye - the "father of stress" and founder of the Canadian Institute of Stress.
Every worker in America has heard of individual stress management techniques -- relaxation, meditation, and visualization -- good tools for getting through stressful periods. But if theyre so great, why do we still have all this stress
Were going to need something more than mood music, aroma therapy, and comfortable lighting to get beyond the stress of todays workplace. Were going to need managements attention because stress control is a leadership responsibility.
The US Army has plenty of experience with stress control as front line leaders strive to keep GIs on the job. Traditionally, the US Army has lost as many soldiers to stress as to enemy gunfire - a ratio of 1:1. The most elite units trim this loss to a ratio of 1:10 - one stress loss for every 10 wounded soldiers.
Regardless of the ratio, every front line soldier is critical to winning the battle. Commanders know that controlling stress under fire is as critical as food, fuel, and ammunition. The same holds true for corporate America. You cant get high productivity with high absenteeism.
Combat leaders watch for stress symptoms and take action. They are taught to "Know your troops, and be alert for any sudden, persistent or progressive change in their behavior that threatens the functioning and safety of your unit." FM 6-22.5, "Combat Stress"
Specifically, front line leaders are taught to help overstressed soldiers in six ways:
Army Step 1. Reassurance
Corporate Solution: Some people need contact with the boss to assure them that things will turn out ok. Spend time to find out workers concerns. Ask for their observations on recent events. Find out what they think about upcoming changes. Ask for their advice -- theyll admire you for demonstrating your trust. Simple remarks showing your confidence in workers can make a big difference.
Army Step 2. Rest and sleep
Corporate Solution: Its worth your while to offer some additional time off if stress is interfering with performance. Consider giving additional breaks to relieve mental and physical fatigue. Improved productivity will more than pay for the unstructured breaks that over-stressed workers will take on their own.
Find out whats needed to help employees get more rest at home. Bring in experts to teach the importance of rest and relaxation. Take a look at that overtime schedule; the extra work might be taking its toll in absenteeism, illness, accidents, and attitudes.
Army Step 3. Food and fluids
Corporate Solutions: You can influence how people eat by getting experts to teach the importance of proper nutrition. Make sure nutritious snacks are available alongside the junk food in vending machines. Provide healthy snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon when energy levels begin to fade. The investment will pay off in better performance. Reward good health.
Army Step 4. Hygiene - bathing, clean uniforms
Corporate Solution: A scheduled break to get cleaned up before lunch or after a hard day of dirty work can pay off in a big way. Make sure everyone has the right protective clothing for the job. Extreme temperature and dampness create stress that can be easily relieved by proper apparel and hygiene breaks. And, as surprising as it might seem, some employees do not have running water at home.
Not all of them have hot water. Not all of them have washing machines. Make these things available at your workplace or find alternatives. One-time arrangements can go a long way in helping stressed workers get their emotions under control and get their productivity up where it belongs.
Army Step 5. Discussion - A chance to talk about what happened, to tell war stories
Corporate Solution: Everyone benefits from a chance to tell about what went on. Some people are more sensitive than others. There is often great value in routine meetings to kick off the shift or explain the days activities. Scheduling time before or after meetings to talk about what happened can relieve stress for those in the spot light. Team discussions after sales calls can help stressed workers understand the results and focus on what needs to be done.
In times of high stress, some people need to talk about what happened to others around them - family members, community tragedies. Managers can handle the day-to-day conversations and experts are available to address major stressors. Help workers tell their "war stories."
Army Step 6. Restoring identity and confidence with useful work
Corporate Solution: As soon as possible, over stressed workers need to return to their positions of responsibility. They need to see that a they can perform well b that management recognizes their efforts c and that life goes on. Emphasize small accomplishments. Find reasons to reward each person for their achievements.
GIs usually return to their jobs after a short rest, a hot shower, a chat with their supervisor, and a warm meal. Your people can do the same. Most of the time, they can continue in their jobs if you pay attention to their basic needs.
Watch for high stress period in your business cycle and schedule time to work on these six steps. Youll improve productivity and the workplace environment by taking care of your people. Your investment of time and money will be rewarded in better performance and lower costs.
Work with your human resources experts to assist those who are beyond your ability. Let the professionals take care of the severe cases while you take care of your other employees and get the work done.
Can you identify employees who are suffering from stress Do you know what to do about it Evaluate employee problems with an eye toward stress control. Send a blank email to toptenstressors@couragebuilders.com for a f`r`e`e article about the top ten causes of workplace stress.
Copyright 2004 - Dale Collie
You may publish this article electronically or in print f`r`e`e of charge. Just include my full byline and add a hyperlink for web postings. When you publish, please send a courtesy link or email to collie@couragebuilders.com.

About The Author

Dale Collie collie@couragebuilders.com speaker and former US Army Ranger, CEO,and professor at West Point. Selected by "Fast Company" as one of Americas Fast 50 innovative leaders. Author of "Frontline Leadership: From War Room to Boardroom," and "Winning Under Fire: Turn Stress into Success the US Army Way." McGraw- Hil Free newsletter upon request: MailTo:subscribe-956606571@ezinedirector.net

Life is stressful enough without allowing the physical environment - air quality, lighting, noise, and other controllable factors - to intensify day-to-day stress. Especially in the Fall and Winter is where you experience less daylight and more mood swings.
The great thing about environmental stress is that in most cases we can control what is in our environment that is causing the stress. Take these five steps to eliminate environmental stressors that might cause stress and tension in your work and home life.
1. Increase your activities during natural light. Natural light elevates the mood and helps maintain a regular internal body "clock". Especially during the fall and winter we experience a substantial decrease in natural daylight. If youre indoors, try working next to a window and allow as much sunlight as possible to enter your space. If you work in an office without windows try buying a natural sunlight lamp http://www.wackyplanet.com/natsunlam.html. These lamps can help with Seasonal Affective Disorders as they provide a natural sunlight spectrum for health and well being. Prolonged exposure to artificial lighting in any setting can be an environmental stressor.
2. Ban tobacco smoke. Constant exposure to tobacco smoke and its toxins can be a persistent environmental stressor and lead to respiratory problems and other symptoms.
3. Evaluate your furniture arrangement. Arrange your furniture so that you dont feel cramped. Remember you are more productive in a relaxed environment. Also, is your furniture arranged so that you inviting constant interruptions from visitors If you can, move your furniture from the line of sight of potential visitors so that you can focus better, accomplish your goals, and decrease stress.
4. Frequently Change Your Ventilation or Air Filters. Your office or home is full of ingredients found in cleaning supplies, upholstery, carpeting, adhesives, and in chemicals. Devices such as copy machines, printers and computers all contribute to poor air quality. Combine that with working in an office building where you cant open windows it makes the situation ten times worst for the occupants. In extreme cases, individuals may become physically ill from these pollutants, and even moderate doses can cause coughing, a scratchy, burning throat, and other symptoms.
If you are concerned about poor air quality in the office speak with the building maintenance crew and see how often they change the air filters. In most cases, if you explain in a friendly way why you are concerned they will make an extra effort to change at least the filter in your area. Also you can buy a personal air filtration kit at any appliance store to make your life easier. Open windows At home to allow air circulation. Also frequently change your home air filter.
5. "Bring the Green In." This is a term my wife, Joy Fisher- Sykes, uses to say that natural colors make us more relaxed. Color has effect on your mood and energy level. It is generally agreed that blue and green are very relaxing colors. On a personal basis these might not be the colors that relax you. You decide on the amount of color youre comfortable with and the shades that most appeal to you. For example, bright yellow would tend to irritate me it may work just fine for others because of its brightness. Experiment with colors that will work to minimize stress for you.
Remember, these are all environmental factor that you can change to work for you. Just recognize what works for you and take the first steps to decrease stress.

Copyright © 2004 Ed Sykes. All rights reserved
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About The Author

Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and success coach in the areas of leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at 757 427-7032. Goto his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, "Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional."

Feeling stressed out lately Dont worry, there is a simple and incredibly effective solution -- one that will help you lose weight in more ways than you might think!
Relieving Stress with Exercise
Research has proven that relieving stress with exercise is one of the best ways to improve your overall health. Regular exercise provides an amazing array of anti-stress benefits to the human body -- including reduced muscle tension, improved cardiovascular functioning, increased blood oxygen levels, and reduced cholesterol and triglyceride levels, just to name a few.
Relieving stress with exercise also, of course, burns calories and helps to reduce body fat. Since most other anti-stress remedies especially pharmaceutical drugs, alcohol, and overeating cause you to gain weight its obvious that exercise is the best option.
Control Cortisol, Lose Weight
But, besides burning calories, theres another reason relieving stress with exercise helps you to reduce body fat. Exercise produces chemicals that help to lower cortisol production. Cortisol is a "stress hormone" that has gotten a lot of press lately because many new diet products claim to block it.
While the effectiveness of these products has yet to be proven, there is little doubt that controlling cortisol levels is a very important factor in weight loss and long-term weight control -- not to mention optimal health and fitness. Relieving stress with exercise is an absolutely fool-proof way to lower cortisol in the body.
Elevated cortisol levels are fully or partially responsible for everything from sugar and carb cravings to overeating to low energy levels... and more. Experts also believe that high cortisol production increases the amount of "toxic fat" stored on your body -- this is the abdominal fat that may trigger cardiovascular disease and inflammation-related health problems.
Summary
Relieving stress with exercise is, without a doubt, the best way to deal with your physical and mental tension. Not only will regular exercise reduce stress levels, it will also help you control how much cortisol your body produces. This, in turn, will help you to avoid food cravings, reduce dangerous abdominal fat, and basically feel much better. So, next time you feel stressed out, get up, get out, and start relieving stress with exercise!

About The Author

Jamie Clark is a fitness writer and editor of the popular Really Useful Fitness Blog located at:

http://www.fitfaq.com/blog.html

Please feel free to use this article in your newsletter or on your web site. Just be sure to include this resource box as well as a live link to the fitFAQ.com Fitness Guide:

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Everyone needs successful stress management techniques. Easy to learn and easy to implement, you can use them for your own stress management or teach them to help others manage theirs.
Manage your stress and be a healthier, happier and more pleasant person to be around. Let

Stress is amazingly persistent, even seductive. We get used to feeling tight and tense. Though positive thinking has its place, unless it is backed up by practical wisdom it tends to get overwhelmed and fade away.
Here are seven proven ways you can get a new handle on stress.
1. Control your REACTION with these 7 simple words.
The first step is to remain alert when people try to weigh you down with their nervous comments and attitudes.
The next step is to reply to the attempted attack:

Use these simple tips to minimize stress in your day to day living.
Lower your expectations and you will suffer less disappointment. Try seeing everything as already perfect and accept things as they are, then you can strive less and relax more.
Learn to say NO. Next time someone asks you to do something, before the word

What does holly, that untidy traditional greenery you just have to festoon your house with every year, have to do with not tearing your hair out before its even Thanksgiving Plenty. You can use H-O-L-L-Y to help you get organized.
1. H: Help
How many times have you tried to do the perfect turkey all by yourself just so your mother-in-law would be impressed Heres a reality check: a If your mother-in-law is any kind of a real woman, she remembers that her mother-in-law put the exact same pressure on her, and b if shes the kind of person who complains because the cranberries come from a can, shes the kind of person who complains anyway and would be unhappy if she couldnt try to make you look like an incompetent nitwit, and how a woman like that could raise your wonderful husband is beyond everyone.
If that husband is such a great guy, get him in the kitchen. Sit down and plan what the two of you really want---he might not want a six-course dinner, which is fine, because you dont either. Get the kids involved. By now some of them are at that stage where they want to show off what they can do "all by myself," and you know that even though you hate your daughters taste in music, she did make killer stuffing last Thanksgiving. And your son makes a great omelet for Christmas morning. Then theres your sister who loves to chat, so put her to work while you listen to her endless monologue.
Electronic help is great too---use a PDA or the family computer to keep a list of recipes and ingredients. There are many great, sometimes free, computer programs available.
2. O: Oh-No
Lets face it. Youll make mistakes. The sugar cookies will burn. You can always "eat" your mistakes and try again---just dont try a new recipe for the first time Christmas Day. In fact, plan for your mistakes. Thats right. Most of us spend so much time agonizing over avoiding mistakes we forget that they are going to happen anyway, and not necessarily at our hands. So your best girlfriend Susan brought over deviled ham instead of double chocolate cake...theres a reason we have bakeries, right Just cheerfully accept the mistake and move on. People can get over a slightly too well-done roast, but they will be downright uncomfortable if you spend the entire dinner moaning about it.
3. L: Love
You know Christmas is the season of love, and you can have as much fun with take-out pizza as you can with an elegant dinner if the company is right. One sure way to recapture love is to bake cookies together. Theres nothing like the sight of kids rolling dough and decorating their works of art.
4. L: Let It Be
Sorry for the Paul McCartney overtones, but once you have your plan in place, stick to it---that doesnt mean you cant compromise slightly. Agonizing over turkey versus tofu causes you to lose your appetite, and is as harmful to your cooking as disorganization. Sticking to a decision and keeping your plan, no matter what everyone else thinks, gives you peace of mind.
5. Y: You
Remember that there will be stress around the holidays, but that your mind can choose not to give in. You can choose to refuse another beer because "Im frazzled" or avoid inviting people you really cant stand just because your mind thinks you have an obligation to be popular and kill yourself feeding 25 people. You can throw snowballs, or, if you live in California, go throw some water on the wildfires...just take your mind off your cooking. Youll rediscover just why it is youre cooking and what you love about Christmas.
So thats your H-O-L-L-Y for a happy holiday. And when all else fails, theres chocolate.

About The Author

Copyright Kristin Johnson.
Kristin Johnson is co-author of the