If you haven't seen this, it surely is making the rounds with the internet hassling ...
Reprinted from KAJAMA
Online Journal of the Psyche
April 17, 2006
http://www.kajama.com

Practical Stress Management: Seven Spiritual Solutions
Thomas Rusell
reprinted with permission

Stress is amazingly persistent, even seductive. We get used
to feeling tight and tense. Though positive thinking has
its place, unless it's backed up by practical wisdom, it
tends to get overwhelmed and fade away.

Here are seven proven ways you can get a new handle on
stress.

1. Control your REACTION with these seven simple words.

The first step is to remain alert when people try to weigh
you down with their nervous comments and attitudes.

The next step is to reply to the attempted attack: "I have
nothing to say to that." This cuts off the contagious
effect of the stressful assault. It blocks the tendency to
accept and imitate depressing words from others. Your nature
does not fall down to the level of the anxious remark, but
remains high above it.

Negative people WANT to get you involved with their defeat,
and this is a major method they use to do it. Your reply
("I have nothing to say to that") prevents them from drawing
you in as their victim.

Inner life author Vernon Howard writes, "An attitude of
defeat in another person cannot touch you unless you
carelessly accept it as yours. And there is no need at all for you
to accept it. A quiet refusal to enter the battlefield is
the perfect reply."

2. Let go of painful grudges by living in the present moment.

Hating someone is like drinking poison yourself and hoping
the offender will die from it. We shut the door on our own
development when we fail to grant others the same
opportunity for change. Therefore, it is our responsibility to
release to the providence of a higher power those who have
caused harm, while simultaneously realizing they will be held
accountable for their actions.

The secret to success without stress is to realize your
newness in the present moment many times each day. NOW is so
alive and energetic, so tangible and real, that painful
grudges cannot "live" here. Grudges can only stay around when
fueled by unaware and unproductive mental visits to the
past.

3. Observe negative thoughts with the aim of understanding
them instead of trying to suppress them.

Self-Observation is a master key to stress-free living.
Instead of claiming stressful thoughts and feelings as our
own, we can observe and understand them. This understanding
sets us free!

Self-observation is practical spirituality at its best.
Marcus Aurelius, the ancient Roman Emperor said, "Those who do
not observe the movement of their own minds must of
necessity be unhappy."

4. Pause often and enjoy a deep breath.

People are often so tense with stressful thinking they
barely breathe!

We can do something highly beneficial and intelligent. We
can take brief breaks many times a day, even if for only 30
seconds! We can pause, take a deep breath, look around and
relax.

Suppose you feel tempted to give in to someone when you
know you should not. Instantly fall into internal relaxation.
Breathe away your tensions. Your habitually anxious and
resentful attitudes will fall away like leaves from a tree.
They will be replaced by a clear mind that reveals what is
best for you.

5. Realize you have far better things to think about!

The old way of thinking has its favorite grooves, like
negative mental film clips that pull you away from the present
moment. When you detect yourself involved in one of these
internal movies, pause and say to yourself, "There are
better things to think about." This instantly snaps the spell
and moves you to higher ground.

You'll feel much less stress and an abundance of new
vitality as you reclaim the energy once consumed by these
negative mental film clips. Suddenly wake up and come home to
yourself by enthusiastically declaring, "There are better
things to think about!"

6. Stay clear of negative zones of influence.

Our society is rampant with negative influences. They come
from so many places, like frantic people, advertising and
untruthful politics. Never forget: Unaware people want you
to vibrate on their stressful level. It is your duty, your
noble mission in life, to live in harmony with your Heart -
YOUR AUTHENTIC AND INTELLIGENT SELF. Though physically you
may be in a stressful place, once you connect with your
Heart, you have the spiritual power to stay free inwardly. No
law says you must fall under stressful zones of influence.

7. Refuse to make stressful or angry comments.

Stress spills out into the world. It is like a snowball
rolling down a hill that starts small then gathers size and
momentum. Therefore, we must stop stress in its infancy, and
the best place to do so is BEFORE it leaves the mouth.

Here's a wonderful way to dissolve stress in your life:

This insight exercise is called SELF-SURPRISE. Here's how
it works. You are about to say something angry or hurtful to
another person. The statement has left the dock - it is
traveling at the speed of light toward the mouth. Your
AWARENESS steps in and a higher choice is made; a switch is thrown
and you do not say what you were about to say. You say
something helpful and cheerful instead!

You'll instantly feel the trueness of practicing this
exercise. Anger or stress did not succeed in dictating your
speech. Your power of choice lifted you above its arrows. This
is not the practice of phony niceness. It is the
__expression of true strength and authentic self-command. It can only
occur when your awareness is active, like the presence of a
lighted lodge in the dark forest.

Conclusion:

The one supreme power that guarantees personal happiness is
personal right thinking. This "right thinking" is based on
practical wisdom. Try these seven methods, and you'll see a
huge difference in your life. You'll have LOTS of energy!

Tom Russell's work has been influenced dramatically by the
teachings of Vernon Howard, with whom he studied for twelve
years. Tom is the host of superwisdom.com and the author of
Seven Secrets to Light Up Your Essence, which reveals how
to apply spiritual principles with NowFacts for high energy
living that easily dissolves stress, anxiety and
frustration.