Life Resumed

I know what you’re thinking. The thought in your mind is the same one that has been running through mine. “All of this stress is astounding, when does it end?” Many times have I put into Google Search, “how do I eliminate stress?” Usually you’ll be linked to a blog about zen, meditation or counting routines. Scouring through these posts, you’ll find that they repeat the same info over and over ad nauseam. Yet you don’t feel like any of what they’re saying is working and eventually you reach the point where stress reduction itself becomes stressful, right? I thought so. Now you’re more than likely thinking, well what do we do about it? We have to look at stress differently. For starters, you need to know the difference between Distress and Eustress. Distress, the more commonly heard, is bad stress such as horrible jobs, worse bosses and being punched in the face. Eustress is so uncommon that, as I type this, the auto-correct is trying to tell me it’s not even a word. Eustress is in fact the good stress that our bodies are gearing up towards. Any sort of exercise or that feeling just before a bungee jump, even an exhilarating first date. Faster breathing, heart pounding and that slow sweat you’re developing is your body prepping for the upcoming scenario. Breathe and embrace it because odds are that situation is not going to fix itself or go away. Ignoring it is not going to always be an option. You have to approach your thinking differently and you’re body is trying to help you in every way it can by giving you the energy to rise up to the challenge. Can stress be a total nightmare? You bet. However, if you can handle it properly by avoiding distress while embracing eustress then you may very well avoid that heart attack that you almost turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Changing your mind is the first step to changing your life.