"It's not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it." -Hans Selye
When we think about our ability to handle stress, how would we score ourselves?
3 out of 10?
5 out of 10?
8 out of 10?
We all have had moments where we have been able to take a stressful moment and conquer it. We also have had stressful moments that have swallowed us up. Wouldn't it be great if we could respond to stress in a way that keeps us in control and allows us to maximize our time and efforts in that moment?
Over the next few weeks, we'll take a dive into stress. We'll understand why the way in which we think about stress matters, strategies to help us use stress to our advantage, and why stress is a good thing in our lives.
As we begin looking more closely at stress, we can learn from Kelly McGonigal about how to make stress our friend. Her book The Upside of Stress is a great read for anyone who wants to understand how our minds and bodies are wired for stress. Check out this TED talk she gave about what she has learned as a health psychologist about stress.
Our challenge this week is to notice when we are experiencing stress and shift our thinking about that stressful experience.