Copyright 2005 Trevor Dumbleton
It has often been said that the teenage years are the “best
years of your life”. However, anyone who says that does not
remember what it is like being a teenager. Between school, life,
parents, friends, and the fact that all of them want all of your
time, there is no way to get away from the petty concerns and
strains that can lead to serious stress. However, nobody seems
willing to give up any of the time they demand from you, so you
find yourself torn in a thousand different directions with
nowhere to turn to for help. Fortunately, you do not need to
deal with stress all on your own. Rather, you can find plenty of
help, just as long as you look for it. Unfortunately, teenagers
rarely look for help and many of the assets available to them
are simply ignored. Thus, your teen stress keeps getting worse.
The first place to look for relief from teen stress is at
school. There is a certain class of people who desperately want
to help teens get through their problems and find solutions, but
they usually sit in their offices waiting in vain for someone to
talk to them. These people are guidance counselors and they are
there to help you. However, it is very rare for someone to avail
themselves of this prime opportunity for assistance, so actually
sitting down with somebody is a treat for them and they will do
all they can to help. True, most people think that guidance
counselors are really just lost souls who can’t seem to get out
of school, but that is not the case. Guidance counselors decided
on their career because they want to help others. Which means
that they want to help you.
As well, you can get help for teen stress through your teachers.
True, most of the help you get will probably be for your work in
the classroom but, strange as it may seem, teachers are actually
human beings. They want to connect with their students so that,
when you go to see them, they will be happy to help you. If you
go to them in order to get help with your schoolwork, they will
happily give you assistance. They can help you through any
issues or difficulties that you may be having and you will can
learn more from them after class than you will during class.
Such one-on-one sessions can help them narrow down issues in a
way that they cannot while they are lecturing to a room full of
students.
Additionally, once you sit down with your teachers, you may
actually discover that you enjoy talking to them. After all, to
repeat a point, they are people. And because they spend so much
time in the company of teenagers, they understand teen stress.
However, they also understand it from a philosophical
perspective that can breathe some fresh air into the problems
that you are confronting. Though you may not always enjoy the
answers they can provide, they will be worth thinking about and,
in the fullness of time, you will probably discover that they
provided a very good insight into your problems.
Another excellent source for teen stress is with your parents.
This is because of a simple fact that you may not want to
accept. This is the simple fact that parents tend to have
children who are very similar to them. No, it’s really not
pleasant to think about, since that means that you may turn out
to be like your parents. But, let us put that aside for now.
Your parents were once your age (strange as that may seem) and
teens often have to go through very similar problems. Thus, your
parents have felt teen stress and they know what it is like.
Sure, they may not want to admit that it was anything special,
but they will, hopefully, remember that it was not easy at the
time. So if you really need to get some sort of advice or help,
sit down and talk to your parents. Not only will you get some
sort of help, but you will also make their day. After all, how
many parents get the chance to really connect with their teenage
children?
Teen stress is one of the hardest things to get through, but you
can rest assured that it has been done. Billions of people in
the world have all had to go through the travails of the teenage
years and they have through to the other side. So prepare
yourself, get help when you need it, and look for help when you
can. By relying on people who have “been there, done that” you
can see your way clear to the other side. Then, you can safely
look back on your teen stress and say stupid things like, “the
teenage years are the best years of your life!”
