Sure, life in the 21st century does have its share of advantages. But, as there are two sides to every coin, similarly, today's hectic and fast-paced lives happen to have a common global byproduct - stress. Stress and its effects on our lives is a topic that unfortunately, is highly underrated, frequently underestimated and most often, ignored. That is something that can be potentially very dangerous, as stress is more of a silent killer, whose damaging capabilities only increase with time and ignorance. Therefore, to help you in dealing with the stresses of present day life, presented below are some tips to live a stress-free lifestyle. Acceptance The first way to go about beating stress is to accept its existence in your life. Quite a few people refuse to admit or accept the fact that they are stressed, and in the process, end up doing nothing but fooling themselves. Accepting the fact that you are under stress will not make you weak-minded or anything similar. Acceptance will only make you aware of the fact that yes, you are stressed and you do need to do something about it. The more you live in denial, the more potent the problem will end up becoming. Identifying Stresses To put it in simple words, stress is an outcome of life or certain aspects of life, going out of one's control or comfort zone. Therefore, what you need to do is sit down and identify what exactly are the reasons, issues or problems that are the actual causes of your stress. It could be due to career related problems, financial difficulties, health problems, relationship issues or anything else. You need to clearly identify the stress, before you move towards dealing with it. Problem Solving Developing effective problem solving skills is an absolute necessity in today's world. It is important not only for stress management, but also for dealing with all the facets and issues associated with living life in the fast lane. Contrary to common perception, you don't exactly have to be a genius in order to develop good problem solving skills. Common sense is the biggest prerequisite for effective problem solving. Other than that, it is just a question of identifying difficulties, analyzing one's resources and coming up with a list of probable solutions. Some Points to Remember In addition to the aforementioned tips, here are a few more very important and extremely effective ways of living stress-free lives.

• Express gratitude to the Almighty. Thank the Almighty for all that he has blessed and showered you with. If you're reading this, then you should know that you are among the few fortunate ones who have luxuries like computers, homes, education, etc. There are millions of other people in the world whose basic requirements remain unfulfilled, forget about access to a computer. Showing gratitude will make you feel good about what you have, rather than worrying about what you don't.
• Practice yoga on a regular basis. Certain yoga exercises and breathing exercises work wonders when it comes to stress relief. It won't take too much of your time; devoting 20-30 minutes per day to these activities is more than enough.
• Engage yourself in some sort of exercise or physical activity. It boosts your metabolism, gets your body energized, and makes you feel good about yourself. However, this doesn't mean that hitting the gym is the one and only way of going about this stress-free life tip. Take up a sport that you enjoy. Go for a 30 minute walk in a nice, silent park. Or else, go swimming. The water really helps in calming one's nerves and is a great stress buster indeed.
• Pursue a hobby. Doing what you like can help in easing your mind and diverting it from stress causing issues. Relax and unwind for a short while if you've had a particularly hard or stressful day. Opting for a nice rejuvenating body massage can also help.
• Meditation and spirituality are two other commonly practiced methods of stress management and relief.
• Finally, it's all about choice. You can either choose to let stress, stress you out; or you can choose to be strong, rise to the occasion, and solve the issue.