EXERCISE! There's no better way to deal with stress. Go out for a run. Jump on your bike. Dance like you really mean it. Indulge in a mix of physical fun at least five times a week. Exercise helps fight depression, and the only side effects are more flexibility and greater strength.

If you feel too anxious, too jumpy to work out, get your shorts and sneakers on anyway and tell yourself you'll quit after 10 minutes if you're not feeling better. You will feel better. Why? Because you're moving energy, you're breathing deeply, you're cooling your brain. Exercise won't solve our national crisis — unless we mandate it for everyone, a minimum of 30 minutes a day! — but it helps us cope better.

MEDITATE. Meditation is mainstream now. It's not a religion, it's not dependent on a relationship with God, Buddha or Shiva, it's just an ancient and proven technique for quieting your mind.

From that place, stress melts, tension dissolves, and you can discover a new perspective for dealing with old problems. When you sit quietly for 10 to 20 minutes a day and listen to your breath, or repeat a mantra that can be as simple and secular as "peace" or "love," you stop the endless narrative of your thinking mind and approach a calmer state that is associated with feelings of joy and bliss.

Find a quiet place. Sit comfortably. Close your eyes. Relax. Listen to the sound of your breath. When your mind wanders — and it will — notice your thought, and let it go. Begin again. You won't know how much better meditation can make you feel until you try it for a week or two.

KEEP A JOURNAL. Buy a notebook. Don't tell anyone, but call it your Gratitude Journal. Before you go to bed at night, write down all the things that you are grateful for. Do I have to prime the pump? An unexpected kiss. The strength to walk two miles. The freedom to think, to read, to learn, to grow.

Instead of focusing on what's wrong, take a few minutes to dwell on what happened in your day that made you smile, that lifted your spirits, that touched your heart. Yes, this sounds soppy and sentimental. Many psychologists believe that happiness is a learned skill. It can begin with a gratitude journal. Again, this is not a cure-all. It's a coping mechanism. Everything changes. Until things get better, be grateful for what you have.

DISCONNECT FROM DISTRESS. Let's face it — the news is depressing. And yet, it's like seeing a dead deer next to the road. It's almost impossible to look away. So give yourself permission to do the impossible. Look away. No one is forcing you to watch bad news TV or follow the scandalous flow of Internet effluvia. Turn it off! Use the time to read a good book, memorize a poem, play Scrabble with a friend.

In other words, distract yourself from that which distresses you. It's OK. It's better than OK. It's a strategy for feeling better. At the same time, engage in positive and practical ways to make a difference. Just now coming ...

ENGAGE IN SOMETHING UPLIFTING. One of the best ways to take your mind off your troubles, or at least see them from a new perspective, is to help other people less fortunate than yourself. Practice kindness. Volunteer in the cancer ward of a hospital. Serve meals in a homeless shelter. Help a disadvantaged child learn to read. Work in a community garden, and bring your bounty to a local pantry. There's no end of opportunities to help others. It's selfish, I admit, but someone's got to do it.

ENERGY EXPRESS-O! BE A BESTOWER

"Kindness is never wasted. If it has no effect on the recipient, at least it benefits the bestower." — S. H. Simmons

Marilynn Preston — fitness expert, personal trainer and speaker on healthy lifestyle issues — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She has a website, http://marilynnpreston.com and welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to MyEnergyExpress@aol.com.