There are basically two types of stress placed on human beings. One type involves physical activity and its demands; the other type is the result of mental and emotional demands. Whether physical or emotional in origin, stress causes the body to react in similar ways. In the first stage, your body prepares to meet the stress. The heartbeat and respiration rates increase, and the pupils of the eyes dilate; the blood sugar level increases, and the perspiration rate speeds up, while digestion slows down as blood and muscular activity is diverted elsewhere. In the second stage, your body returns to normal and repairs any damage caused by the stressful situation. However, if stress continues, the body cannot repair itself, and the final stage, exhaustion, then begins. If this stage continues, physical and emotional damage will occur. These stages of stress reaction are generally the same, whether the stress is caused by a cross-country run, a first date, buying a house, or narrowly missing an automobile accident. Stress from physical activity, if not carried too far, is actually beneficial. Probably most harmful of all stresses is guilt. This common emotion is useful to have when it helps us realize that we have, in fact, committed some error, violated our own rules or social norms. If we did not feel guilt, we would never do anything except the things that brought us immediate pleasure—we'd never obey the law, work, or even study in school, unless we wanted to do so in the first place. As a person's conscience develops, guilt feelings become inevitable; guilt is the sorrow we experience when we know we have done something incorrect. Many of us as children learned rules that we no longer need. For instance, a successful business person needs not feel guilty about spending a little too much money on a vacation, or should she/he feel guilty that she/he can combine a business trip with some swimming and golf at an ocean resort. But many people do feel guilty over such apparently innocent actions. Excessive guilt can make life not worth living; guilt can cause self-hatred as well as other fears and anxieties that cause all life's successes to be bittersweet, at best. Guilt and the worry that often accompanies this major stress are difficult to eradicate, but people subject to excessive guilt feelings should realize, as simple as it sounds, that no one is perfect. People cannot always be cheerful and helpful to everyone they meet. Another good lesson is that mistakes should be forgotten, not lingered over and brought out to examine periodically. A life without stress would be boring. Just as we need a little guilt to keep us correct, and a little worry to make us plan ahead, we need a little stress to stay interested in life. But, when stress begins to bother you, change your routine. Take your mind off your worries with some activities, whether tennis, yoga, gardening, or meditation. Or talk your worries over with someone else; you may discover a solution you had overlooked before.