Stress is a hell of a thing. It's horrible. Of course, everybody knows what stress is and how it could affect us, yet a lot of us don't know we are under stress until it starts to get out of hand.

The most common stress that most, if not all, of us have experienced is stress caused by school related matters, whether it be from studying for tests, getting an important project ready, or making sure Billy next to you doesn't find out you have gum.

People react differently when under stress. The two different reactions to stress are mainly anger and depression. Some people experience only one of these while others experience both of them, like me. I do have to say, for the past 3 days, I have been close to just bursting into tears in class and at home because my stress has just been mounting up. Little advice: get a partner if you have to create a solution to solve a current problem for Engineering Design and Problem Solving.

Stress is also very slippery. It can build up without you being aware of it. It's like Play-Doh. Take stress from having to deal with siblings, add stress from having to write that book report due very early, and mix it together with stress caused from your cat constantly showing their love for you by peeing on you (I think it's a territorial thing. She does it once every other week, or when I touch another cat in the neighborhood. I still love her a lot even though she does that). What you have now is a big stress ball created from other stress subjects. The more stress added on, the bigger it gets, and the harder it is to control it.

Now, beating stress is very simple. Just relax. Your mind has to be taken away from your worry. Listen to music (happy music), have a laugh by talking to friends or by watching stand-up comedy, or write your thoughts and feelings down. That's what I'm doing right now. It feels nice to write something down a maximum of 10 people will read.

Stress will not completely go away. It will lessen to near zero, but it will not go away. There will always be stress in life, no matter who you are. All you have to do is overcome it and move on.

Now then, where's my cat? ♥