Is there a Difference between Reducing Stress and Giving Up?

Everybody knows that stress can kill yet many of us either don’t wish to or do not know how to reduce it.  Sometimes the attempts that some of us make to reduce our stress are often viewed by others as a form of quitting.  They say we refused to fight hard enough for something and just do not wish to take into consideration that maybe we have seen it best for us to close out that chapter and move on.  Is it because they really care or is it because they are still trying to make us live our lives as they live theirs?  No one will truly ever know because no one has the ability to tell what is truly in the hearts and minds of man, we can only make educated guesses based on our personal experiences of observation and discovery through the years.