Every day every one of us are faced with challenging situations. Any situation will trigger any number of different emotional responses from our endocrine systems, which we then react to externally.

The reasoning mind is essential to living a good life through Stoicism.

Enchiridion 5. states Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. Death, for instance, is not terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death that it is terrible. When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. An uninstructed person will lay the fault of his own bad condition upon others. Someone just starting instruction will lay the fault on himself. Some who is perfectly instructed will place blame neither on others nor on himself.

It is our judgements of things that are the cause of trouble. We internalize things to center on us. It is not things themselves that upset us but our interpretation.  Our judgements make us fearful. Worry about things that have not happened. Our thoughts contribute to how we react.

We do not have to deal with negative emotions. We have a choice. Out thoughts can contribute to anger and fear. We can be responsible and act accordingly. The problem rests in us. We can choose to be free and undisturbed if we wish.

We all experience anger from time to time, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. But, letting anger control your life can leave you feeling stressed out and upset all the time. Anger is a normal and healthy emotion, but it is crucial that you learn to respond to this strong emotion in healthy, positive ways.

Uncontrolled anger leads to mental and physical health problems, can harm your relationships with others, and can even land you in legal trouble, if you are not careful.

Moral Letters 116.3.  states “Every emotion at the start is weak. Afterwards, it rouses itself and gains strength by progress; it is more easy to forestall it than to forgo it. Who does not admit that all the emotions flow as it were from a certain natural source? We are endowed by Nature with an interest in our own well-being; but this very interest, when overindulged, becomes a vice. Nature has intermingled pleasure with necessary things – not in order that we should seek pleasure, but in order that the addition of pleasure may make the indispensable means of existence attractive to our eyes. Should it claim rights of its own, it is luxury. “

Let us therefore resist these faults when they are demanding entrance, because, as I have said, it is easier to deny them admittance than to make them depart.

There are healthy ways to respond to anger and get it under control.

Certain triggers occur that cause us to develop stress. It could be a looming deadline at work. It could be a white water adventure. When a trigger happens it produces cortisol.

Cortisol gets a lot of blame for the adverse effects of stress. While it certainly plays a significant role in that process, that’s not all it does. Your body wouldn’t produce a hormone just to hurt you.

It has a purpose. The main problem with cortisol isn’t the hormone itself, but rather the amount of time that you spend producing it. In small bursts, cortisol is a necessary and beneficial hormone.

It keeps you going when you’re feeling exhausted from stress, and it helps you with your fight or flight reflexes by acting as a pain killer. In fact, in small doses, cortisol does a lot of really important things for you, and you would definitely miss it if you had to go without it.

However, cortisol is only meant to help you in short, quick stressful situations. You’re meant to be able to relax afterwards and let its production slow down. If your entire life is a stressful situation, then your body is going to keep on producing cortisol continuously, leading to a number of adverse effects.

The key is to be able to bear with what happens and to cope with it.

Meditations 10.3. states Whatever happens, happens such as you are either formed by nature able to bear it, or not able to bear it. If such as you are by nature form’d able to bear, bear it and fret not: But if such as you are not naturally able to bear, don’t fret; for when it has consum’d you, itself will perish. Remember, however, you are by nature form’d able to bear whatever it is in the power of your own opinion to make supportable or tolerable, according as you conceive it advantageous, or your duty, to do so.

Thinking about the past with the intention of learning from life experiences to forge a better path or become a better person is a good idea. But most people don’t think back on their past with that mindset.

Instead, they dwell on the past and all the mistakes that they made. Or they think about how their life used to be and they compare it to now and feel like they’ve been short-changed.

Either way, it’s a way to cause stress. Thinking about the past can cause you to age rapidly. Living in the past leads to recriminations, self-doubt and blame. That causes emotional turmoil such as anxiety.

Discourses 4.12. 20-21 states What then? Is it possible to be free from fault altogether? No, that cannot be achieved, but it is possible ever to be intent upon avoiding faults. For we must be satisfied, if we succeed in escaping at least a few faults by never relaxing our attention. But now, when you say, "To-morrow I will pay attention," I would have you know that this is what you are saying: "To-day I will be shameless, tactless, abject; it will be in the power of other men to grieve me; I will get angry to-day, I will give way to envy." Just see all the evils that you are allowing yourself! But if it is good for you to pay attention to-morrow, how much better is it to-day! If it is to your interest to-morrow, it is much more so to-day, that you may be able to do the same to-morrow also, and not put it off again, this time to the day after to-morrow.

It’s the same thing with future thinking. You might not have a problem dwelling on the past but instead, you think about the future. You might feel anxiety about what’s going to happen to you physically.

One huge aspect of stress is that it often brings on depression. When you get depressed or stressed out, you’ll find yourself frequently spending a great deal of time sedentary.

You’ll want to be alone and spend a lot more time in bed or on the couch. You’ll become lethargic and won’t want to go out and do things, because you’ll be more comfortable staying at home.

However, as comfortable as that might be, lethargy can have some serious long term effects on your mobility. Staying stagnant each passing day can cause your joints to deteriorate over time, meaning that as you grow older, your knees and elbows will start to function worse.

This can make it even harder to get out and be mobile, meaning that it’s a self-supporting cycle. By ceasing all activity, you’re forcing yourself into a cycle of inactivity in which you continue to let your body deteriorate over time.

You’ll find that simple tasks like walking up stairs or moving around in general are painful and more difficult than they were before. This can make you even more stressed and depressed, and make you move even less, only furthering the impact that it has on you.

The only way to prevent this is to remain active even through stressful times.

Moral Letters 104.6-7 states So you are curious to know the outcome of this prescription of travel? As soon as I escaped from the oppressive atmosphere of the city, and from that awful odour of reeking kitchens which, when in use, pour forth a ruinous mess of steam and soot, I perceived at once that my health was mending. And how much stronger do you think I felt when I reached my vineyards! Being, so to speak, let out to pasture, I regularly walked into my meals! So I am my old self again, feeling now no wavering languor in my system, and no sluggishness in my brain. I am beginning to work with all my energy. But the mere place avails little for this purpose, unless the mind is fully master of itself, and can, at its pleasure, find seclusion even in the midst of business.

Stress can cause emotional and mental upheaval. It can disrupt your everyday life and it can cause you to be unable to focus on what you need to take care of. But it can also cause health problems.

When you’re under stress, it just doesn’t feel good. This is why some people attempt to deal with stress by any means possible. It causes the formation of bad habits.

Habits are a pattern of actions that repeat in a cycle. They are triggered by some cue that cause the action to occur. But while habits can be learned they can also be unlearned. It requires understanding of oneself and the motivation to change.

Meditations 9.31 states  Let there be freedom from perturbations with respect to the things which come from the external cause; and let there be justice in the things done by virtue of the internal cause, that is, let there be movement and action terminating in this, in social acts, for this is according to thy nature.

Stress doesn’t set your emotions on an up and down rollercoaster. It doesn’t just make you emotionally, physically or mentally tired. Stress steals from you. It takes your peace, it takes your focus, it can take your sleep - but worst of all, it can steal years off your life.

Some people have a little stress that’s ongoing, so they deal with it every day. Other people have big stress that they deal with – maybe not every day, but regularly. No matter what time frame stress follows, it’s all bad.

But by learning how to handle it, you can stop it from speeding up the aging process. You need to make small modifications to learn how to deal with, it rather than upending your entire life.

The problem begins because the reaction to the stressor is often automatic. You deal with stress the way you do out of habit. Sometimes this habit is ingrained from childhood, but other times, it’s a learned behavior that a person picked up in adulthood.

It is about acceptance. We need to accept things as they are. It does not mean just rolling over and being passive. It is a measure that guides our thoughts and actions.

Enchiridion 8. Don't demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.

Stress is not something to be taken lightly. It can really have many negative effects on your life, and it’s definitely hard to deal with. If you’re not able to handle it effectively, you might end up succumbing to mental other physical issues.

One of the best ways to make sure you’re able to handle your stress well is to make a support system that can help you as time goes on, ensuring that it never gets out of control.

A support system should be a group of people close to you that you know you can rely on. They should be there for you to calm you down, help you work through things, and become a better version of yourself.

Stoicism shows we are part of something bigger and we should be of service to others in order to live the best life possible. In turn we also need support from others.

Meditations 10.6 states “Whether the universe is a concourse of atoms, or nature is a system, let this first be established, that I am a part of the whole which is governed by nature; next, I am in a manner intimately related to the parts which are of the same kind with myself. For remembering this, inasmuch as I am a part, I shall be discontented with none of the things which are assigned to me out of the whole; for nothing is injurious to the part, if it is for the advantage of the whole. For the whole contains nothing which is not for its advantage; and all natures indeed have this common principle, but the nature of the universe has this principle besides, that it cannot be compelled even by any external cause to generate anything harmful to itself. By remembering, then, that I am a part of such a whole, I shall be content with everything that happens. And inasmuch as I am in a manner intimately related to the parts which are of the same kind with myself, I shall do nothing unsocial, but I shall rather direct myself to the things which are of the same kind with myself, and I shall turn an my efforts to the common interest, and divert them from the contrary. Now, if these things are done so, life must flow on happily, just as thou mayest observe that the life of a citizen is happy, who continues a course of action which is advantageous to his fellow-citizens, and is content with whatever the state may assign to him.”

Confidence is the key to so many things in life. It can absolutely transform your life - especially if you learn it young. One of the things that it helps with the most is stress. Stress is most often caused by you feeling as though you don’t have control over the situation surrounding you, and you don’t like that situation.

By being more confident, you’ll find that you actually can influence the world around you in such a way that you’ll find it much more to your liking. When it comes to living, there’s a lot of stress in life.

Confidence can help is coping with stress. With confidence the individual is sure of themselves. They are able to look at situations and people with the ability to handle whatever happens in life even with adversity.

Confidence through the practice of Stoicism does not mean having an iron will to thrust through obstacles. It is about the ability to adapt through adversity to improve. It is about understanding that hardship and suffering are part of life but we can have a fulfilling life despite this.

Moral Letters 9.13. states "The wise man is self-sufficient." This phrase, my dear Lucilius, is incorrectly explained by many; for they withdraw the wise man from the world, and force him to dwell within his own skin. But we must mark with care what this sentence signifies and how far it applies; the wise man is sufficient unto himself for a happy existence, but not for mere existence. For he needs many helps towards mere existence; but for a happy existence he needs only a sound and upright soul, one that despises Fortune.

While stress itself is enough in your life, there are also numerous events that will happen over the course of your life that will continue to stress you out. These are often inevitable, which can be very frustrating, since they take such a toll on your mental well-being. These can come with daily activities and events.

You need to be prepared for these kinds of events to avoid as much stress as possible in the future. Stoic teachings stress living in the present moment and not to worry about future events. But what you do now through reasoned choices can have an impact on your future. How we handle everyday issues can impact how we deal with stress in the long term.

Discourses 1.6.26-29 states But some unpleasant and hard things happen in life.—And do they not happen at Olympia? Do you not swelter? Are you not cramped and crowded? Do you not bathe with discomfort? Are you not drenched whenever it rains? Do you not have your fill of tumult and shouting and other annoyances? But I fancy that you hear and endure all this by balancing it off against the memorable character of the spectacle. Come, have you not received faculties that enable you to bear whatever happens? Have you not received magnanimity? Have you not received courage? Have you not received endurance? And what care I longer for anything that may happen, if I be magnanimous? What shall perturb me, or trouble me, or seem grievous to me? Shall I fail to use my faculty to that end for which I have received it, but grieve and lament over events that occur?