You have to do well at school.

Your parents expect you to do more round the house.

You have to juggle a part time job with school.

You have difficulty in relationships.

These things can build over time to make your life stressful. The perfect solution to situations like this is to take a break. Goof off. Reset the stress meter by having a bit of fun.

Go to a party. Play your favorite sport. Learn the guitar. Do something you enjoy. Indulge yourself. Life isn't that serious that you can't do someth

"I was so stressed out last night that I couldn't concentrate on the movie"

But stress, by definition, is not all bad for us. Stress can be viewed as anything that causes us to change in some way and the way we react to this change.

That's a pretty general definition.

Going to school each morning causes us to act in a certain way :

You have to put on a school uniform,

You have to prepare your books/homework for class,

You have to take some form of transport,

You have to arrive at school at a certain time.

Depending on how you view going to school this might be considered stressful or you might find it motivates you. To me this is the important point about stress.

It is not so much the events that are happening to us but the way we deal with them or view them. If you can see the benefits to an event that is confronting you then you can turn that event into good stress.

Bullying might be seen as a potentially stressful event in your life. Somebody may be picking on you for no apparent reason. This happens once and you let it slide, but if it continues, you begin to get depressed, anxious or concerned for your safety.

If you allow bullying to happen to you then it will get you down. Bullying has the potential to be a bad stressful event if you allow it to happen to you.

If you take action against bullying, like confronting the bully or getting some help from school authorities, the event is less likely to cause negative or bad stress.

If you address the issue of stress to the extent that you stay in control then there is a good chance that the stress will be of benefit to you. For example, if you confront the bully you might find that they back down.

A potentially stressful event has been managed and you have learned a valuable lesson about human nature. No matter how distasteful the event may have been you have learnt from it and the stress has been good for you.

Of course you can't sugar coat everything with a positive mental attitude.

Some things really stink but you have to do them. The pressures on teenagers seem to be a thousand times more than that of a little kid. Life tends to get more serious.

You have to do well at school.

Your parents expect you to do more round the house.

You have to juggle a part time job with school.

You have difficulty in relationships.

These things can build over time to make your life stressful. The perfect solution to situations like this is to take a break. Goof off. Reset the stress meter by having a bit of fun.

Go to a party. Play your favorite sport. Learn the guitar. Do something you enjoy. Indulge yourself. Life isn't that serious that you can't do somethi

Depending on how you view going to school this might be considered stressful or you might find it motivates you. To me this is the important point about stress.

It is not so much the events that are happening to us but the way we deal with them or view them. If you can see the benefits to an event that is confronting you then you can turn that event into good stress.

Bullying might be seen as a potentially stressful event in your life. Somebody may be picking on you for no apparent reason. This happens once and you let it slide, but if it continues, you begin to get depressed, anxious or concerned for your safety.

If you allow bullying to happen to you then it will get you down. Bullying has the potential to be a bad stressful event if you allow it to happen to you.

If you take action against bullying, like confronting the bully or getting some help from school authorities, the event is less likely to cause negative or bad stress.

If you address the issue of stress to the extent that you stay in control then there is a good chance that the stress will be of benefit to you. For example, if you confront the bully you might find that they back down.

A potentially stressful event has been managed and you have learned a valuable lesson about human nature. No matter how distasteful the event may have been you have learnt from it and the stress has been good for you.

Of course you can't sugar coat everything with a positive mental attitude.

Some things really stink but you have to do them. The pressures on teenagers seem to be a thousand times more than that of a little kid. Life tends to get more serious.

You have to do well at school.

Your parents expect you to do more round the house.

You have to juggle a part time job with school.

You have difficulty in relationships.

These things can build over time to make your life stressful. The perfect solution to situations like this is to take a break. Goof off. Reset the stress meter by having a bit of fun.

Go to a party. Play your favorite sport. Learn the guitar. Do something you enjoy. Indulge yourself. Life isn't that serious that you can't do someth

If you allow bullying to happen to you then it will get you down. Bullying has the potential to be a bad stressful event if you allow it to happen to you.

If you take action against bullying, like confronting the bully or getting some help from school authorities, the event is less likely to cause negative or bad stress.

If you address the issue of stress to the extent that you stay in control then there is a good chance that the stress will be of benefit to you. For example, if you confront the bully you might find that they back down.

A potentially stressful event has been managed and you have learned a valuable lesson about human nature. No matter how distasteful the event may have been you have learnt from it and the stress has been good for you.

Of course you can't sugar coat everything with a positive mental attitude.

Some things really stink but you have to do them. The pressures on teenagers seem to be a thousand times more than that of a little kid. Life tends to get more serious.

You have to do well at school.

Your parents expect you to do more round the house.

You have to juggle a part time job with school.

You have difficulty in relationships.

These things can build over time to make your life stressful. The perfect solution to situations like this is to take a break. Goof off. Reset the stress meter by having a bit of fun.

Go to a party. Play your favorite sport. Learn the guitar. Do something you enjoy. Indulge yourself. Life isn't that serious that you can't do someth

A potentially stressful event has been managed and you have learned a valuable lesson about human nature. No matter how distasteful the event may have been you have learnt from it and the stress has been good for you.

Of course you can't sugar coat everything with a positive mental attitude.

Some things really stink but you have to do them. The pressures on teenagers seem to be a thousand times more than that of a little kid. Life tends to get more serious.

You have to do well at school.

Your parents expect you to do more round the house.

You have to juggle a part time job with school.

You have difficulty in relationships.

These things can build over time to make your life stressful. The perfect solution to situations like this is to take a break. Goof off. Reset the stress meter by having a bit of fun.

Go to a party. Play your favorite sport. Learn the guitar. Do something you enjoy. Indulge yourself. Life isn't that serious that you can't do someth

You have to do well at school.

Your parents expect you to do more round the house.

You have to juggle a part time job with school.

You have difficulty in relationships.

These things can build over time to make your life stressful. The perfect solution to situations like this is to take a break. Goof off. Reset the stress meter by having a bit of fun.

Go to a party. Play your favorite sport. Learn the guitar. Do something you enjoy. Indulge yourself. Life isn't that serious that you can't do something to rectify it.

And then there are things that are serious that could be very stressful to you.

Some things that are serious are abuse at home, death of a loved one or personal setbacks. As a teenager you do not have the life experience to deal with situations like these (and believe me, this is not exclusive to teenagers as many adults can feel as helpless and lost when these things happen to them).

When you feel unable to deal with a situation you must reach out. Many people are afraid or ashamed to reach out. Support is the first step to dealing with an issue that is causing you stress or concern. Somebody else has experienced your problem and they can help you deal with it.

Professional help or support from your family and friends can help you to confront it. If you want anonymity then the Internet is a perfect place to air your concerns. Forums that deal with your specific problem are ideal for this but remember to always take the advice from a forum with a pinch of salt. You do not know the agendas of some forum members and their advice might be counter productive. Seek professional help or support from somebody you know and trust before you act on any advice that may be given.

As much as you would like life just to happen without much intervention from you the reality is that you have to manage a situation if you want to learn from it. Learning form a situation is a way to manage stress.