Five Ways to Control Your Anxiety

    How can you find some enjoyment and keep your anxiety in control? Try the following five steps for a less anxious you.

    Stop comparing yourself to others. When you compare your life to others', you are giving up your power. People have success or failures at different points in their lives. You might think others have better lives, but you don't have the full story. Next time you begin to compare yourself to someone else, tell yourself this, “I only compare me to me.” {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Be grateful. Gratitude is the secret to a happier, less anxious you. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When you practice gratitude, you start training your brain to pay attention to all the wonderful things about your life and doing so improves your mood little by little.

    Forget perfect. Going after perfection sets you up to feel defeated. Accept that you will have days that are far from perfect and learn to laugh at the funny things that go wrong at the wrong time. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

    Move your body. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I'm sure you'll feel better--especially if you exercise regularly. Doing exercise will give you a sense of achievement that you can use to deal with other difficulties in your life.

    Connection with other people. If you struggle with anxiety, you may not feel like putting yourself into social situations, but isolating(使孤立)yourself socially is the worst thing you can do. Connecting with others can help you realize everyone has struggles and that people are there for you.

   {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Connection can help you improve your mood.

A. Life is so much more enjoyable when you expect less of it.

B. Make sure you aren't going around trying to please everyone.

C. It is scientifically proved that exercise can improve your mood.

D. See a friend, call a family member or just smile at strangers passing by.

E. Pen and paper can provide you with a special place to express your feelings.

F. When you take time to enjoy all the good things, you can't help but feel good.

G. Only by competing with yourself to be a better you can you get where you want to be.

Advice About Stress: Don't Let It Ruin Your Life!

    There are many reasons why people suffer from stress. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}  We give you advice on how to find the cause or causes of your stress, and more importantly—how to deal with it.

    For some, dealing with stress is a relatively simple matter, providing you really want to. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If the latter is the case, then don't refuse forms of alternative medical advice and treatment.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}  It can help you to perform or even OUT perform in certain situations. Athletes use it to great advantage to help them through that barrier that will put them on top! It can also help you in everyday life. However, if it is part of life's routine, then something somewhere will suffer in body or mind—or both.

     One of the important factors in treating stress, is firstly admitting, accepting or even discovering that you are stressed. Only then can the causes of that stress be isolated. Harmful stress comes from a lot of causes. Our advice about stress is based upon medical facts, and of course common sense. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}  Getting the wrong advice can cause more harm than good.

    It can be beaten in most cases, and can nearly always be controlled, or even turned to your own advantage. Firstly determine if you are stressed or suffering any form of stress—take our stress test to find out. It may surprise you! Secondly, sort out what you can actually do to relieve the causes of your stress. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}  Thirdly, work on a change of lifestyle or whatever needs to be done to fight the causes that you have identified.

A．Stress can also be good!

B．Getting the right advice is not always easy.

C．Stress is a totally normal function of the body.

D．Accidents are often prevented by the stress reactions.

E．Surprisingly, some suffer from stress but are not even aware that they are doing so!

F．For others, stress can be so severe that it might need medical attention.

G．Like all illnesses—and suffering from stress is an illness—prevention is always better than cure.

                                   I love Fridays. And so I celebrate Fridays.

    After dropping my son off at school I head to Starbucks to pick up a coffee treat or another. Then instead of driving straight home I take a long route through the most beautiful roads I can find. I see footballs being passed on lawns, hamburgers being thrown on grill（烤架）, and parties everywhere swinging into action.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The o0ther day I came out from the doctor's office happy over a positive prognosis（预断）. Seeing the signs of spring around me-flowers, birds, sunshine, I was suddenly ready to celebrate. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    My mind rebelled. “What are you doing? It's Tuesday! Coffee treats are reserved for Fridays!”{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Why should Fridays be any more special than any other day of the week? Why waste six days while waiting to celebrate the seventh? Minutes later I was walking back to my car with a big smile on my face and a coffee in my hand.

    A small victory, to be sure, but it's also an accurate example of how many of us live our lives. We're waiting for conditions to be right before we allow ourselves to enjoy our time here on earth. Maybe when we finally graduate from college and get a job, it will be time to celebrate, or perhaps when our babies are old enough to be in school all day. We'll celebrate when the car is paid off, or enjoy life when we're finally able to retire. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} What if we moved a little of that “Friday feeling” into our rainy-day Mondays, our dull Tuesday and our mid-week Wednesdays? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    You're growing up. That means you're probably experiencing changes, all at once. Your body is changing. It might even seem as if your entire self is changing. It can be confusing and even scary. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} And it's good!

    Growing up means that you can do more, learn more, and start to make your mark on the world. In order for that to happen, your body produces chemicals called hormones that help both body and mind grow. Hormone levels change constantly, rising and falling.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} But it's partly to blame for intense emotions, surprising reactions, and mood changes.

    Because of the way your brain develops, it is somewhat ruled by emotions now and through your teen years. As a result, growing up can seem like an emotional roller coaster (过山车)!{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Take care of yourself. If you eat right, sleep enough, and get good exercise, your brain will be much more able to deal with the stress.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} When you feel your moods changing or you're upset, or confused, some quiet time will allow you to gather your thoughts and get calmer.

    Practise relaxing your body and deep breathing when you go to bed.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Plus, when stuff happens during the day, you'll be able to calm yourself quickly with a deep breath or two before you react. Your body is changing.

A. Take a timeout.

B. Work out regularly to keep physically fit.

C. But the truth is, it happens to every teen.

D. This changing is needed for your body's development.

E. It will help you fall asleep and start the morning right.

F. Here are a few things you can do to make the ride smoother.

G. Usually, these feelings settle down when you realize what is going on.

    I was ten when I first sat with my grandmother behind the cashier (收银台) in her general store. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} I quickly learned the importance of treating customers politely and saying "thank you. "

    At first I was paid in candy. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I worked every day after school, and during the summer and on weekends and holidays from 8 a. m. to 7 p. m. My father helped me set up a bank account. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    By the time I was 12, my grandmother thought I had done such a good job that she promoted me to selling cosmetics (化妆品). I developed the ability to look customers directly in the eye. Even though I was just a kid, women would ask me such things as "What color do you think I should wear?" I took a real interest in their questions and was able to translate what they wanted into makeup (化妆) ideas. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The job taught me a valuable lesson: to be a successful salesperson, you didn't need to be a Rocket scientist—you needed to be a great listener. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Expect they are no longer women purchasing cosmetics from me; instead, they are kids who tell me which toys they would like to see designed and developed.

A. Later I received 50 cents an hour.

B. Before long, she let me sit there by myself.

C. I ended my selling a record amount of cosmetics.

D. Today I still carry that lesson with me: I listen to customers.

E. My grandma's trust taught me how to handle responsibility.

F. Soon I found myself looking more beautiful than ever before.

G. Watching my money grow was more rewarding than anything I could have bought.

    Many of us live with a roommate at times. Sometimes, there can be problems. Such as whose turn it is to take out the trash, or who should be the one to clear up after dinner?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}There's always someone to talk to, so you need never be lonely.

    Besides these obvious benefits, there are some you may not notice.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}when living with others. To examine the effect of living alone, Australian university researchers did much research and found that people living alone tended to eat less fresh food including fruits and vegetables, which can have side effects on long-term health. However, those living with others generally got benefits from a more varied diet compared to those living alone.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The researchers believe the social and cultural roles played by cooking, food preparation and eating may be important considerations. For example, those living with friends have someone else to go shopping with, and thus, they are more likely to buy higher-quality fresh food regularly.

    In addition, a person living alone can eat whatever they want at any time of the day. However, it's helpful to have someone around who questions your decision to eat frozen pizza at 3:00 am.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    So, if you now live alone, fighting a losing battle against poor eating habits, why not consider sharing a home with someone else?

A. However, There are always ways to solve these problems.

B. You know that there's always someone else around who can help you feel safer.

C. However, living with another person also comes with many benefits.

D. For example, we're actually more likely to eat healthier food.

E. In other words, roommates can draw your attention to such an unhealthy routine.

F. Living with roommates will have a good atmosphere.

G. What could explain this?