While diet and exercise can be two key methods of maintaining good physical health, mental tranquility is the foundation of good health.  

Stress on your brain can weaken your entire body and regardless of your overall physical health, make you susceptible to disease or inexplicable aches and pains.

Managing Stress

Contrary to common belief, all stress is not harmful to your well being, in fact, a lack of good stress or eustress can be detrimental.  

The research of Hungarian/Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye into our response to stressors showed that certain stress events led to positive biological reactions, while others, which can be labeled distress, were negative. 

(Note:  I  have simplified his concepts) 

When managing your stress it is important to classify the stressor a eustress or distress (this can vary by individual) and calculate your response accordingly.  

Eustress or Distress

Consider the retiree.  Eustress studies revealed those who retired and did not replace their daily purpose (work) with other activities (hobbies, travel, etc), were likely to die within 9 to 12 months of retirement.  

While some talk about the stress of work, worries about events, schedules, finances, in fact, these provide a biological incentive to the body and thus in a sense are life-sustaining, their lack is detrimental.

On the other hand, stresses with the negative impact that we consider out of our control (e.g. loss of a loved one, loss of employment) are the ones to both avoid if possible, or if unavoidable, (at a very minimum) accept and move on. 

Distress spirals out of control and can be very damaging to our well-being unless we can defuse it.  Basically accepts those things that just “are what they are” and move on.