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英語寫作 English Writing

A Helpful Way to React to Stress

國二辛 王維臻
Stress is a state of strain that troubles everyone at some point in their life. There are various causes
that can lead to stress, for example, school, work, interpersonal relationships, and financial problems.
All of these causes are, unfortunately, inevitable parts of our lives. Therefore, learning how to cope
with our stress and be able to enjoy life is important.

Since I joined our school’s overseas program, I have experienced a lot of stress from learning.
Tons of classes filled my schedule and left me with interminable assignments, and that gave me almost
no leisure time to spare. I often wondered how I could get rid of the stress from such a busy schedule.
Beside the busy schoolwork, my terrible social skills tied me to a continuous state of loneliness. It
would have been a lot better if I had a friend to talk to, but I didn’t. The constant feeling of loneliness
choked me, and that impelled me to isolate myself from everyone around me. As a result, I almost lost
contact with the outside world.

I finally decided to make a change and tried hard to overcome the stress that was weighing me
down. Identifying the problem was my first step: I wore myself up by being focused all the time and
I didn’t let myself relax appropriately. In other words, I needed to relieve my stress. Simply letting
myself go and allowing relaxation to come was a good way to manage my stress from schoolwork.
Doodling on my notebooks also helped me express my feelings that had been locked up inside myself
like menageries for so long. Sometimes I cried alone and let myself be vulnerable for a little. The act of
crying did help reduce the stress that I was feeling. As for the cure for my loneliness, luckily, I found
someone whom I could talk to in the class, and we got along pretty well, so we became friends. We
talked often and I shared my feelings with her. It seemed my efforts worked for me, and I began to get
on and stay on the right track.

In conclusion, stress is something everyone must go through. To cope with stress, one needs to
first realize his or her problems, and then by any means face them. Hans Selye, the father of modern-
day stress theory, once said, “It is not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” Remaining calm and
optimistic makes everything easier, and it is absolutely pivotal to ignore the negative emotions as they
are not helpful in any way. I believe learning to handle stress in a positive and healthy way gives us
freedom from stress-related problems and the most important—the strength to carry on.

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