Stress

This was one of my favorite chapters because I found it so perfectly relate able to my life. I have so much stress in my life especially now towards the end of the year with finals, and soccer season starting up and my end of the year piano exam and recital. It's a lot to deal with and this chapter pinpointed a lot of things I agree with and gave me ideas to deal with my stress.

I agree with the part that says writing in a journal can help facilitate emotional control. This really helps me if I write everything down. It's a way to organize my crazy jumble of thoughts and emotions. I also agree that stress affects the immune system. About two weeks before my huge piano exam at the University of Minnesota, where I have to go in a room with a judge for about an hour and play four songs from memory, and sightread a piece and play scales and analyze pieces and such, I got a super bad cold. I lost my voice and I had a fever. I definitely think this was due to my stress. Also, I found that exercise helps reduce my stress as well.