Is stress actually bad?
What is it?
Stress is a feeling that comes from a series of thoughts that make you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous.
Stress is healthy when it's temporary (like for a deadline or to avoid danger).
This is different from prolonged, survival state, stress. This kind of chronic stress is detrimental and is a much different topic then what I'm covering today.
Stress, when we talk about the day-to-day work-life balance, is neither good nor bad... until we decide to make it mean something.
How many times have we associated stress with stroke, heart attack, cancer, illness, etc?
THINKING that stress will create a life-altering debilitation, will create EVEN MORE hazard to our bodies.
Stress is a normal, human, bodily response. It means our bodies are functioning properly.
It usually happens like this: 1) Stress alarm. 2) Stress hormone released. 3) Bodily changes.
If after our stress alarm we think, "my stress is going to cause cancer," we feel MORE stressed, and our bodies release MORE fight or flight hormones.
If we interrupt this pattern and remember that stress means our bodies are working FOR us not against us, we may be able to limit the side effects that we induce when thinking about the horrific events that we fear so much... that haven't happened yet.
Perhaps, THINKING that stress being bad is what's toxic for us.
We've all heard that to manage stress we have to DO a bunch of things like get lots of sleep, eat better, exercise, have hobbies, maintain healthy relationships.
PROBLEM: We are less likely to create these habits when we're stressed and thinking that the stress it's going to kill us.
If we get the at the issue at the root, (thinking) it's so much easier to DO the things that keep us healthy.
Who wants to eat carrots when stressed? Personally, stress makes me want to eat donuts and get less sleep by staying up late finishing my work.
This is what I've been working on to manage my stress, without adding activities to my to-do list.
1) Notice the stress alarm. 2) Appreciate how my body has leveled up to meet me where I'm at. 3) Question the thinking that caused the stress in the first place to create awareness, without the major cortisol dump.
We always get to choose what we think. What we think affects our body, mind, and life.
I invite you to choose something that serves you.
If you're struggling with stress, let's get your coached up!
Regain control of your mind, your actions, and your life.
Start by signing up for a FREE mini-session.
You’ll get a clear understanding of what is and isn’t working for you and some amazing and actionable tools to start implementing right away.
It’s completely free. If you decide that you want to keep working together we can chat about it at the end of our call.
Have a beautiful weekend.
All my best,
Holly
