April 5, 2011 — For the 19th consecutive year, April has been designated Stress Awareness Month. During this 30-day period, we encourage everyone to learn about causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic.

The Health Resource Network (HRN), a non-profit health education organization, sponsors a national, cooperative effort to inform people about the dangers of stress, successful coping strategies and harmful misconceptions about stress that are prevalent in our society.

"Even though we've learned a lot about stress in the past 20 years," said Dr. Morton C. Orman, founder and director of HRN. "We've got a long way to go.”

Studies have shown stress is a reaction to the fight-or-flight response in our bodies and we have been programmed to react to certain situations automatically. It is a way for our body to protect it.

The HRN lists on its website, stresscure.com, five stress myths and one that we found interesting is we can’t deal with stress. We need to face stress and ask ourselves “what specific problems or conflicts are troubling me, and how can I deal with each of these problems effectively?”

Your thoughts form your choices and how you respond to the world around you. Your choices form your life. We encourage everyone this month to examine their thoughts and see if you are leading to a stressful life.

Also two-thirds of all Americans say their stress is directly related to their work or career and how much money they make not, to buy gadgets and gizmos but so they can take care of their family and plan for a nice retirement. There is not much some of us can do about where we work or how much we get paid at the moment. But we can take advantage of retraining opportunities at Lassen Career Network or Lassen Community College.

The best advice for dealing with stress is to look for resources in the community to help change your life. Start by reading the stories in the paper and looking at the advertisements. We list doctors, counselors, churches, career experts, job openings, exercise facilities, restaurants etc. Hundreds of people are ready and willing to help you relieve a little stress each day.

And in the next month we will be releasing the 2011-2012 edition of the Lassen County Visitors Guide filled with ways to relax and bring joy into you life.