A Better Way to Think About Stress
Research shows that you gain a sense of control when you can learn to embrace it
Co-authored by Todd Snyder
Let’s play a game of Would You Rather. Would you rather speak in front of 500 people for an hour or be stuck in an elevator with your ex? Would you rather get a cavity drilled or be forced to take a four-hour Zumba class? Would you rather lose your wallet on the subway or lose your internet connection right before a big online presentation?
None of these options are good, but they have something in common: Unless you’re an avid Zumba dancer, they all invoke stress.
It’s a feeling most of us dread and left unchecked, it can manifest in harmful physical and mental symptoms. But it’s time to consider an alternative view of stress. What if we stopped seeing stress as something abnormal or threatening to our health and instead thought of it as something that empowers us to be our best? Here are some mental strategies to help you do this, but first, it helps to understand exactly what we mean when we say we’re stressed.
