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!"