Practice Safe Stress is unremittingly positive in its outlook. How else can one regard a work that treats “LIFE” as an acronym for Laughter, Introspection, Five minute fun fling and Energy, enthusiasm and enjoyment? Trust a motivational speaker and trainer, who also happens to be President of the H.A.H.A. Association, to be able to convey in a sensible, down-to-earth style the basics of how to overcome life’s hurdles with spunk, spirit and plenty of sass!

Above all, Roberts is keen on imparting the numerous techniques that he has developed over the years for not only coping with, but indeed for reveling in, stress. After exploring the value of humor in minimizing the negative impact of those stressors that we encounter in our daily lives, he describes several well established techniques for stress relief, including those of visualization and imagery, as well as journaling. Seeing productivity and creativity as two of the major benefits to be gained from using our sense of humor, Roberts advocates the use of such humor in the workplace to boost levels of productivity, job satisfaction, morale and employee loyalty.

Part two of Practice Safe Stress provides more than 210 possible Five Minute Fun Flings, which is Roberts’ term for brief time outs, for introducing humor into your day. Though some such suggestions relate directly to those in an office environment (such as ‘Create new, fictitious job titles for people at work’ – a good one that, especially when you wish to bring your seniors down a notch or two!), others, if you wish to retain your gainful employment, would be better off practiced at home (one such is ‘Turn on your favorite music and dance like mad’). What I also find pleasing about this light-hearted self-help manual is that Roberts acknowledges the contributions that others have made to it. (The latter contribution, for example, came from Patty of Anduska in New Jersey.) His recommendations for fun flings are illustrated with several humorous drawings, which help to bring the pages to life.

Roberts’ approach is well illustrated throughout with examples of situations in which he has successfully been able to defuse tension. Who amongst us, for example, has not at some stage been involved in some form of automobile accident? Roberts shows how, even when many of us might stand there cursing (or, at least, muttering to ourselves), by cracking a joke at what most of us would consider to be the most inopportune of times, one gains the necessary breathing space that allows one to place the incident in perspective – far better than having a flaming row in peak hour traffic!

In brief, Roberts lays all his cards on the table, being unafraid to reveal personal encounters with difficulties. Practice Safe Stress is highly recommended for all those who sometimes feel overwhelmed by the plethora of urban mishaps that threaten to infringe on one’s sense of individuality, let alone to undermine one’s very sanity, in the rush and scurry of today’s cosmopolitan lifestyle.