Major Life events or Daily Hassles?

In the 1960's Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe of the University of Washington's School of Medicine identified major life events as a major source of stress in peoples' lives.
Life events were concentrated phases of significance in peoples' lives like getting married, moving house, holidays, separation, marriage breakdown, divorce, new baby, moving away from home. Life events could be positive or negative but the fact that change was happening in a life meant that it was stressful.
Yet, while there major life events can cause major stress in peoples' lives, Richard Lazarus of the University of California at Berkley indicated that external daily hassles had an even greater impact on well-being than the major events. By daily external hassles Lazarus meant noise, getting caught in traffic jams, clock-watching, constant deadlines, misplacing keys - what one might think of as the 'small stuff'. His hypothesis was that the effect of these hassles was cumulative, constant hassles were everyday stressors that meant it was difficult to avoid them and the effects became chronic and had a long-term effect. Knowing that one had to face the same hassles every day add to the stress. In many respects it may be easier to recover from a major event as it is more likely not to re-occur.

What are your daily hassles?
How can you change your life about to avoid them?
What are the causes of stress in your life? Identify your own stressors?
Are they psychological? Do you have excessive wants needs and desires, excessive drive and ambition, expectations of perfection in yourself and others, poor self-image?
Are they environmental or situational? Is life in a muddle with a lack of routine? Are the causes dietary, caffeine, sugary foods or destructive habits such as drugs, alcohol or smoking? Remember that a stressed individual is at high risk of becoming addicted.
Are they life events such as moving away from home, baby, marriage, break-up in relationship, lack of support structure?
What do you do and how do you feel and act when stressed?
Do you have poor or little sense of control over you life?
Do you have few or no close personal relationships and support structure?
Rigid and inflexible attitudes?
Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism about oneself, the present and the future?
Inability to express feelings?
Poor sense of self-worth?
Distorted communication patterns?
Poor problem solving skills?