Managing Stress and building Resilience

Stress can be defined as the coupled action of the body and mind involved in appraisal of a threat... the triggering action is the individual's perception of the threat and not the event (Dr. Daniel Friedman in Deepak Chopra 1991).
Our society is very competitive today and demands much from us. Constant deadlines, clock watching, and everyday aggravations make us short-tempered and cause us to build up tensions.
Traffic jams, confrontational behaviour, work loads at work and at home, competing forces for our limited leisure time all add to the stress people find themselves under. If one perceives these as stressful and becomes stressed-out then it is important that one learns to recognise the early signals of over-load.
We all tend to have an unique pattern of symptoms of stress, and need to learn methods to calm and reverse the negative results of too much stress.

A certain amount of stress -eustress/good stress - is necessary for effective human functioning. It is often defined as healthy stress or the amount of stress necessary for you to feel a sense of challenge and fulfilment from your endeavours. It mobilizes the body's resources, increases concentration and 'sharpens your wits'.
Eustress allows you to reach your optimal potential, to perform at your peak and to feel 'in the flow'. As long as you feels in control of all aspects of life, are able to function optimally and are resilient and happy then you are functioning within the eustress curve. But once stress levels go beyond an optimal level there may be harmful effects on your level of functioning.
Feelings of being 'out of control' may occur and many early signs and symptoms of being stressed may become evident. Some of the early visual physical signs of tension include hair twirling, ankle bending or tapping, coiled legs, nail biting, tightly folded arms, abdomen drawn in, breath holding, jutting jaw, frown on forehead, tight hunched shoulders, clenched teeth, clenched fists with white knuckles, leg shaking, finger tapping etc. Can you identify your early warning signs and can you act on them straight away?
If you learn to identify the first warning signs and take steps to reduce your stress immediately by using effective coping skills then you can continue to live within optimal levels of stress and flourish.