A while ago I read an article about stress. It was called, “Stress – Black Death of the 21st Century”. It stated stress has eclipsed heart attacks, strokes and back problems for reasons to be absent from work for an extended period of time. It further stated many reasons for stress; a bad boss, marital problems, job uncertainty and the overall economy.

Each of the reasons given for stress in the article can be summed up in one word – hopelessness. The Bible says hope deferred makes our hearts sick. I have taught, counseled and helped a wide variety of people for over 20 years – including prison inmates to company executives. Without a shadow of a doubt, the one common root cause to each person’s pain (or stress) has always been hopelessness. Hopelessness is the most insidious disease that has its grip on so many people today. Being hopeless can make you sick.

A vast number of people don’t see their future ever being any better than it is right now. We have all heard people make the following statements: Why study for a test since I will fail anyway? Why try to save my marriage, they won’t ever change? Why start a new business because most new businesses fail? Why try to look for a job, no one is hiring?

As I already mentioned stress is the number one reason people have time off of work. Stress shows up in more than an emotional feeling or sleepless nights. Every doctor will tell you about the physical effects stress causes. High blood pressure may be the most obvious, but it can affect all areas of your health: severe headaches, sleeplessness, anxiety, depression and addictions. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on television, but these are now the accepted norms in medicine.

Your life, career or business can be severely affected by stress emotionally, physically and financially. What are some things you can do to increase hope and lessen stress?

Remember your past successes. Look back at your life and remember the times when you thought situations were going to end in a terrible mess, but they ended up working out just fine.

Read, listen or watch inspirational stories of real men and women who overcame certain failure, but ultimately succeeded. It is a sure way to build hope and overcome stress by seeing others struggle and fall, but get up and keep going – eventually reaching their goals.

Lastly, we all face small amounts of stress from day to day schedules, to do lists and the like. Here are some simple things to help lessen this type of stress. Take a walk and exercise. Spend time with family and friends. Take time to plan out tomorrow, but do it today. Clean – your desk, your car and your house. (It is amazing what happens when we clean up the clutter in our personal lives.) Help someone else who is in need – volunteer. This list is never ending, but the point is do something physically and mentally to reduce your day to day stress.

Stress and hopelessness go hand in hand. You can’t control every situation from occurring, but you can control how you handle every situation. To build hope and lessen stress – remember your past successes, find inspiration in the lives of others and do some simple things to keep your mind and body active.