All of us encounter stress. It is part of our everyday lives. It is unavoidable. Stress only brings negativity when we react a certain way to stressors. Hans Selye, an endocrinologist, proposed that there are two kinds of stress. There is "eustress", which is good stress; and there is "distress" or bad stress. Eustress is the stress that's felt when there is a realization of something good that will happen after a certain ordeal. Distress, on the other hand, happens when one cannot adapt to stress.

Anxiety is a state of mind characterized by constant worry, uneasiness, and fear. While stress, or distress for that matter, is due to a negative reaction to what recently happened or what is currently happening, anxiety is a result of the reaction to an upcoming, possibly negative, event. For this reason, anxiety is often associated with fear and is sometimes confused with it.

Stress leads to various serious physical and mental conditions; anxiety being one of them. For this reason, stress management is of importance. Sometimes, people are already stressed, show signs of stress, yet they do not realize it. They go on and develop anxiety or panic disorders without knowing that it stemmed from being stressed for too long.

If you are stressed too much because of the bad things that happen to you, pause and realize that there are some good things that have happened. There are always better things to think about. If you already have anxiety, realize that you constantly fear something that isn't supposed to be feared. It comes natural for you to think of worst-case scenarios. It may surprise you that you rarely think about positive outcomes to something that you're anticipating.

Stress and anxiety have always been about the negative. Stress results from the negative past or present, while anxiety is fearful of a negative future. Having a positive outlook may be hard for those who have stress and anxiety disorders, but it's always a stepping stone to overcoming either one.