Les,

Dear Asker,

If that’s what they say, no!  I haven’t read The Secret.  I did watch some of the DVD, though, but lobbed a bowling ball at the television right after that little girl got the bike.   

Positive thinking can certainly reduce stress, but there’s no secret to stress reduction, and there’s certainly no getting rid of all the challenges and changes that spark our stress responses--many of which are downright necessary for emotional, social and physical growth.  Instead, I market “BEWARE, PREVENT, PREPARE” as a formula for successful and sustained stress reduction. Opportunities to beware, prevent and prepare are EVERYWHERE and this stress management mantra is woven into just about every Les Stress Q&A; here are the concept soundbites, and archived columns that best illustrate them are linked to the Related Q&As section below:

BEWARE

Get and stay tuned into how you feel, what stresses you and how your actions impact others.  These are skills that can be developed and they work to inform the what, when, where, why and how of your stress management efforts.   

PREVENT

Based on your awareness, take action to prevent predictable stressors.

PREPARE

Be as ready as you can to deal with the many stressors that we can’t predict.

Les
1/08