26 ways to minimize and manage unhealthy effects of stress, anxiety and burnout. By Bill Reddie

No doubt about it - we live in an increasingly competitive and stressful world. In many subtle and not so subtle ways it affects us all and it's not unusual for people to lace their conversation with phrases like 'Stressed out', 'Anxiety syndrome', 'Panic attack', 'Burned out', and more. That's today's reality.

The question is, how do we go about dealing with that kind of world? What can we do to minimize prolonged, unhealthy effects of a stressful environment? How can we prevent stress, anxiety and burnout from becoming a way of life?

Well, first we need to take a good hard look at what exactly is stressing us out and perhaps do a bit of repair work on our perspective of situation. A good way to do that is by reviewing some very basic and constructive advice that has always been available but is often forgotten in our daily scuffle to get ahead.

For most part, advice is based upon common sense and can often provide clarity and guidance in stressful situations.

That said, study list below to see if it contains something that will work for you. At first glance, these suggestions may appear deceptively simple but each will, nonetheless, require dedicated effort and discipline.

1. Don't try to please everyone. It's impossible, debilitating and very stressful.

2. Stop living your life according to beliefs, opinions and prejudgments of others. Its your life, not theirs.

3. Create dependable friendships with people who can be counted on to support your effort to change, learn and grow.

4. Try to make changes gradually. Doing so will help you to maintain a more positive outlook as you progress. Attempting to change too much too soon often leads to disappointment.

5. Establish priorities that are consistent with your own values.

6. Examine your beliefs and goals. Are they unrealistic or unattainable?

7. Accent positive and learn from negative.

8. Focus on present. The past cannot be changed. The future hasn't arrived yet. That leaves you with now. Now is time to create future you desire.

The Age-old Puzzle of Human Response

By Bill Reddie

If you've listened to more than a little music, you've most likely received an emotional reaction from some of it. You've probably noticed that whenever that happens, effect is initially unexpected and varies in its intensity. Its also a safe bet that you cannot truly explain or define why it affected you. You might be listening to a Symphonic work, a Jazz combo, something Country or a Folk song. Whatever style, it becomes obvious that certain musical creations are able to communicate in a way that transcends moment.

Those with a broad and varied interest in music soon discover that not all music is equal. Some of it may simply be functional, contrived, uninspiring and produce little or no emotional reaction. Other music may call forth a few emotional moments here and there but you find yourself wishing for more. Then, there are those truly inspiring musical creations that lift one out of oneself, somehow transporting listener in a way that defies explanation.

Inspiring music appears to contain an abundance of emotional peaks and valleys that may evoke pleasure, sadness and other diverse manifestations of emotion. For listener, this often becomes a very unique and moving personal experience - and oddity is that neither composer nor performers of music will be able to explain exactly how or why it creates that effect.

This seeming inability has nothing to do with extensive technical abilities of composer or members of orchestra. Rather, it concerns difficulty anyone encounters when attempting to define or describe ethereal nature of inspiration. For example, how does one go about describing Source?

Apparently, it matters not musical style - a simple folk song might trigger an emotional reaction as powerful as that created by a complex symphonic work. Why this happens has been debated for ages but most musicologists will agree that trying to find answer to this and other human response questions becomes a gigantic task due to plethora of human, technical, psycho-biological and other variables that permeate an inspiring composition and its performance.

Another unusual aspect is that no two people will react to any given piece of music in exactly same way. What might be a moving experience for one person might be somewhat different for another.

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In order to gain a better understanding of why this disparity occurs, look to subject of human conditioning - for it contains insightful information regarding how and why people react in manner that they do.

The concept of human conditioning is based upon premise that human perspective is influenced from birth onward by parental, societal, religious and other forces. Consequently, all future human experience is filtered through and measured by past experience. Therefore, it does not require too great a stretch to understand why individual responsiveness to music may vary from person to person. Simply stated, each life experience is different for each person and though experiential similarities may exist, responsiveness remains uniquely individualistic.

A mysterious something