A lot of stress is caused by believing that we are hemmed into a corner in a particular situation and have no power over the outcome.

When we feel under pressure and the ‘fight or flight’ reflex kicks in, we can almost feel overwhelmed with a sense of panic that we are no longer in control of parts of our lives.

The feeling that we have no control over our situation is down to not recognising that we always have freedom of choice.

If we sit in silent contemplation for a time and allow ourselves to connect with our authentic selves and relax – we will notice that in reality we have many options open to us in any given situation.

We may not like all of the options open to us and, as with an options analysis for a prospective project, we may decide to take the ‘do nothing’ option.

But recognising that we do have options, however unpalatable some of them may appear to be, will immediately restore a sense of calm and being in control.

For, once we recognise that we have more than one option available to us, we then have a choice on which one we will take.

And when we have a choice, we have power.