Stress is the leading cause of many ailments in today's busy world. Often times we are under a great deal of stress, but don't realize it until it manifests itself in the form of high blood pressure, headaches, or worse. It can be helpful to have a quit trick handy to defeat stress before it starts.
This is dandy if you are a self employed billionaire and can do whatever you want, but chances are you aren't. Most of us are just struggling to make ends meet, and have to put up with a lot of aggravation without much choice due to our current situation. What do we do in that situation?
First, it's important to realize that we don't ever absolutely have to do something. If you think of terms of doing something because you have to, it can become incredibly stressful. It can help to think in terms of doing something to receive a benefit. You have to withstand the daily rant of your boss so you can get a pocketful of money on Friday. You have to suffer through a long drive every day so you can afford to live where you live. When you train to think in terms of actions and benefits, you start to gain more power over your situation. We aren't slaves captured and whipped until we drop. We make our choices, and we have to live with them.
Another idea that can help is that of expectation. When we are filled with expectations, these are translated into "shoulds" of how other people ought to behave, or what we "should" receive. But when we base our expectations only on our experience, and not on some imagined idea of how people should behave in an ideal world, we won't be disappointed. It also helps to keep this "realistic expectation" as neutral as possible. Don't expect free candy from everybody you see, but don't expect that everybody will steal your wallet given half the chance.
One powerful way to build in this positive expectation is to negotiate everything before hand. When your boss gives you a task at work, be very clear what he or she is asking you to do, and get as much clarification as possible. Or when negotiate with yourself before you leave for work in the morning. Decide what time you'll get there if traffic is light, and what time you'll get there if traffic is heavy, and how you'll react either way. That way you won't be surprised either way.
The largest creator of stress is the feeling that we are not in control and at the mercy of our environment. If we don't expect anything in particular, or we don't have a list in our heads of how others should behave, then we won't be disappointed, and our stress will naturally decrease.