Our task is to strike a balance, to find a middle way, to learn not to overstretch ourselves with extraneous activities and preoccupations, but to simplify our lives more and more. The key to finding a happy balance in modern lives is simplicity.

--Sogyal Rinpoche

Stress is to refuse to accept a circumstance in your life for which you have no control, stress is measure by the amount of energy that you invest resisting those circumstances. Stress is to waste energy attempting with your thoughts and feelings to change a person, an event or a circumstance surrounding you. The trick to avoid stress is to realize that no amount of effort can ever change the circumstances while they are happening to you, no matter how bad, do not oppose the moment instead, accept and feel what is occurring.

Always accept that nothing can change circumstances as they are happening in your life, you can’t never change people with whom you interact at that moment of interaction period. When an occurrence in your life is not of your liking, it is nonetheless taking place. You will be wasting energy by resisting; the only result of doing this is stress. Instead of avoiding what you don’t like face what you feel, accept as part of life the need to process your negative emotions, think! Each time you work trough your fears and negative emotions you will be better prepare for your future. Accepting what it feels to go through circumstances or people we don’t like, it is a good thing, it makes us a better person. You may at a much later time work on a well prepare plan on attempting to change others or your circumstances.

Although useful for learning about the impact you have on others, too much self-consciousness is the No.1 enemy of self-confidence. The trick is to be able to keep your attention off yourself when you need to. Here's how...When you feel self-conscious, (you can usually tell because you start to feel anxious), choose something outside of yourself to focus on and study it in detail. For example: examine a door, look at the different textures and shades of color, wonder about who made it and how and so on. The important thing is that you're learning how to keep your attention off yourself.