What do you do when you feel stressed out?

Scream at somebody?

Throw a fit?

Get mad about everything else in your life?

Stuff the feelings inside?

Most of us grow up with poor coping skills.

We never learn how to handle our irritations, our frustrations and our disappointments.  At least, not in a healthy way.

My online survey about stress at http://askevelynbrooks.com is a great place to submit comments and questions about what is stressing you today. (And your question might be one I pick to discuss on my next call — there’s a teleseminar scheduled for 4/21 11am PDT/2pm EDT if you want to get in on it).

It’s interesting how many people ask similar questions about unhappy relationships, or about how to deal with family members who are causing a lot of trouble, or about how to be joyful when so many things are going wrong at the same time.

One of the quickest changes you can make in how you feel is to stop taking it personally.

Understand that you haven’t been singled out by the universe to be punished with a lot of strife and unrest.  These situations that feel like crushing problems actually present valuable lessons to learn about how to stay centered inside.

One way you can learn to get centered is to look at the sky daily: watch the sun rise and set, watch the ever-changing panorama of clouds, birds flying overhead, the moon in its path, the stars as they seemingly spin overhead so that the constellation you saw a few hours earlier in the northern sky is now over your shoulder in the west.

Realize that all of us are here for a purpose — to love, to serve, to learn.

I hope to see you on my monthly free teleseminar — it’s the day after tomorrow! The topic is “Be Stress-Free.”

And if you can’t make the live call I’m making a special offer this month that if you RSVP in advance at askevelynbrooks.com, I’ll send you a link to the MP3 replay so you can listen to the 60-minute teleclass at your convenience.

your happiness guru,

Evelyn Brooks