Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being is a stress. Some stresses get you going and they are good for you - without any stress at all many say our lives would be boring and would probably feel pointless. However, when the stresses undermine both our mental and physical health they are bad. Here we shall be focusing on stress that is bad for you.

Stress is the feeling we have when under pressure, while stressors are the things we respond to in our environment. Examples of stressors are noises, unpleasant people, a speeding car, or even going out on a first date. Generally (but not always), the more stressors we experience, the more stressed we feel.

When we are stressed the following happens:

Blood pressure rises.                            

Breathing becomes more rapid.                         

Heart rate (pulse) rises.                             

Muscles become tense.

We do not sleep (heightened state of alertness).

Most of us have varying interpretations of what stress is about and what matters. Some of us focus on what happens to us, such as breaking a bone or getting a promotion, while others think more about the event itself. How you see that stressful event will be the largest single factor that impacts on your physical and mental health. Your interpretation of events and challenges in life may decide whether they are invigorating or harmful for you.

There are three broad methods you can follow to treat stress.

Self help for treating stress

Exercise has been proven to have a beneficial effect on a person’s mental and physical state. For many people exercise is an extremely useful stress buster.

Alcohol and drugs will not help you manage your stress better. Either stop consuming them completely, or cut down.

     If your consumption of coffee and other drinks which contain caffeine is high, cut down.

Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Make sure you have a healthy and balanced diet.

Talk to you family, friends, work colleagues and your boss. Express your thoughts and worries.

Stress management techniques

Stress management can help you to keep away from the source of stress, change the way you view a stressful event, and lower the impact that stress might have on your body. Stress management therapy will have the objective of pursuing one or more of these approaches.

Medicines

   Doctors will not usually prescribe medications for coping with stress, unless the patient has an underlying illness, such as depression or some type of anxiety. If that is the case, the doctor is actually treating a mental illness. In such cases, an antidepressant may be prescribed. Bear in mind that there is a risk that all the medication will do is mask the stress, rather than help you deal and cope with it.

Sit-down habit is killing us

How many hours do you spend sitting in a chair every day? Eight hours in the office plus three hours in front of the TV after work is the norm for many people. You probably don't need an expert to tell you that sitting too much is not good for your health---from an increased risk of heart disease and obesity(肥胖) in the long term, to reduced cholesterol（胆固醇）maintenance in the short term, not to mention the strain（拉紧）on your neck and spine.

To make matters worse, a growing body of research finds that negative effects of sitting too much cannot be replaced with a good diet and regular exercise, according to an article in The New York Times.

The article reported that a 2010 study of nearly 9,000 Australians found that for each additional hour of television a person watched per day, the risk of dying rose by 11 percent.

Another study tracked the health of 123,000 Americans between 1992 and 2006. The death rate for men who spent six hours or more per day sitting was about 20 percent higher than for men who sat for three hours or less.  The death rate for women who sat for more than six hours a day was about 40 percent higher. In other words, sitting is killing us.

Stand up for health

So what can we do about it? Health experts suggest we break up those many hours spent sitting with more hours spent standing.

The BBC and the University of Chester in the UK conducted a simple experiment with a small group of 10 volunteers who usually spent most of the day sitting. They were asked to stand for at least three hours a day. The researchers took measurements on days when the volunteers stood, and when they sat around. When they looked at the data there were some striking differences, the BBC reported on Oct. 16.

Blood glucose leveled off (呈平稳状态)after a meal much quicker on the days when the study subjects stood compared with the days they spent in a chair. Standing also burned more calories — about 50 calories an hour. Over the course of a year that would add up to about 30,000 extra calories, or around 3.63 kilograms of fat. "If you want to put that into activity levels, then that would be equal to running about 10 marathons a year," said John Buckley, a member of the research team. "Just by standing up three or four hours during your day at work."

    Buckley said that although doing exercise offers many proven benefits ,our bodies also need the constant, almost imperceptible(感觉不到的) increase in muscle activity that standing provides. Simple movement helps us to control our all-important blood sugar.

The researchers believe that even small adjustments, like standing while talking on the phone, going over to talk to a colleague rather than sending an e-mail, or simply taking the stairs instead of the elevator, will be of great help to us.

A motto is a sentence or a phrase which can inspire us especially __61.__  we are __62____(face) with difficulties. Many of us have our mottoes, such as “Where there is a will, there is a way.” Or “Nothing is difficult if you put your heart into it.”, and so on. My motto is “God helps those who help __63___.” Sometimes I am lazy and don’t want to make efforts _64__( work) hard, __65__ I will get energetic again and devote myself __66___ what I am doing when I think of my motto. I write my motto _67__ I can see it easily. Every time I fail in my exam and begin to lose heart, the sight of my motto inspires me with much ___68___(confident). My motto also makes me become __69___ independent person. That is to say, I won’t rely on others easily.

   My friends, what is your motto? If you still haven’t got a motto, please choose _70___because a motto can have a great effect on you.