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Stress can kill – all of us have heard this very true fact, but never actually realize its importance until someone who knows succumbs to the whims of this murderer. I’ve seen two uncles affected by stress – one of them lived to tell his tale of a near stroke while the other, sadly, died immediately of a huge heart attack. Both of them are healthy in every other respect – they are vegetarians, they worked out regularly, and they had bodies without an extra ounce of fat. But with stress coming out of nowhere to cause a sneak attack, there was nothing that any of us could do in the case of one of them. And as for the other, he has woken up to the fact that he needs to take a new look at life, the one that he’s been given a new lease of.

Why do we feel stressed? Well, it’s simple – we all have things and people that are important to us. And the more importance we accord to a particular person, goal or thing, the higher the stress when you’re dealing with an issue related to that particular object. So if you really love your spouse, you’d be devastated and crushed if you learn they no longer love you anymore; if you’ve worked hard to build your business, you’re going to be stressed when the losses start piling up; and if you depend on your sporting abilities for a living, an injury is going to mess with your mind, and therefore your body.

We all feel stress even during minor incidents, like a traffic jam, an argument, a spilt cup of coffee, a lost ring, a missed deadline, a recalcitrant child, a nagging spouse – the list can go on according to each person’s pet peeves. What we don’t realize is that it’s the small things that add up to make one giant snowball of stress that can bury us in the avalanche called illness (or even death).

Stress makes your blood pressure soar; it brings on diabetes if you’re prone to the disease; it affects your heart and puts you at risk for a heart attack and/or a stroke; it hits your immune system and makes you prone to various illnesses; and it makes you depressed and affects your mental health. It’s worse if you’re already down with some disease or illness because when you’re stressed, your blood sugar levels rise, your heart starts beating faster and pumping more blood, your breathing is hurried, your muscles tense up, and adrenaline flows through your blood.

If it’s not just a passing stage like fear, excitement or any related emotion, and you continue to feel stressed, you’re likely to suffer from a breakdown of bodily resources. Chronic stress is a harbinger of ulcers, colds, and other illnesses that are the result of a weakened immune system. The longer the period of stress, the more you’re prone to illness and disease.

There are no medicines to combat stress; the only thing you can do is to consciously make a decision to not let stress affect you too negatively. Learn to take deep breaths and control your emotions; learn to relax and enjoy yourself; learn to laugh more and take things as they come; you can be sure you’ve learned the most valuable lessons in life.