These days, all of us seem to have one form of stress or another. Whether it is a result of a job, school, family, friends, love life, or any of a multitude of reasons, we tend to always have some form of stress.

In most cases, we let stress get the best of us. It eats away at your mind, then consumes your thoughts, and before you know it, it becomes your very existence. To say the least, stress sucks!

And so we go, day by day, trying to find ways to deal with the stress(es) of life. One way to deal with stress might be to ignore it completely, figuring that life is too short to be stressed out. This thought is nice, but not exactly realistic. Rather, it is generally a good goal to find some way to deal with the stress.

For some, intense exercise can be beneficial, sweating the stress out. This can take place via running, power walking, lifting weights, water aerobics, swimming, calisthenics, Jenny Craig, or Tai Bo with Billy Blanks. And no, Sweating to the Oldies with what's-his-name doesn't count. That'll only increase the stress.

You're probably thinking to yourself that this is great if you have spare time, or time devoted to anything other than, say, reading blogs. I would have to agree. I think exercise is great, but there has to be a way to do something while you're sitting at your desk, at work or wherever.

And sure enough, there is! Think into the recent past, and perhaps an invention called the "stress ball" will come to mind. These little inventions are great. Just sit back, put the ball in your hand, and make a fist. Basically, it allows you to make a fist using as much muscle as you can muster, without accidently over-exerting yourself and snapping your tendons with your grip.

I have to admit, there's something about squeezing that little synthetic blob that is extremely satisfying. You can crush it with your fist, and it will always spring back to life for you to squeeze again. If you have enough time on your hands, or enough stress, you can de-stress with one of these puppies for hours. Trust me, lifting weights has nothing on the muscle you'll build by squeezing the stress ball.

After a while, you'll discover that your entire forearm feels tight, and you can feel every part of your muscle work when you use it. By the time you're through, your stress will be relieved, and your mind will only be able to focus on your arm, trying to figure out what the heck you did to it by squeezing the damn ball.

Other uses of the stress ball are plentiful. If you find yourself bored in a meeting, or class, or training, amuse yourself by working out with the stress ball. Bosses, coworkers, teachers, classmates, et. al. will never notice, and you will be amused to no end. If you're feeling vengeful, make the ball take up all your stress, and crush it with your iron fist. It's bound to make you feel better.

So when you find yourself devoid of inspiration, stressed, or down, break out the stress ball. It'll work wonders.