Healthy Life Tip: Make Stress a Friend, Not a Foe

By Deb Lewis

Stress is essential in accomplishing anything.

Even in the toughest of times, we have an opportunity to determine how we handle stress. Do you think stress is harmful to you? If your answer is yes, please consider this shift in perspective: Stress can be helpful and push us to grow. When we change our minds about it, our body’s response changes. 

Whether we experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or instead Post Traumatic Stress Growth, depends largely on our approach, our outlook, and our decisions on how to process what we have been through. Stress is a natural part of challenging ourselves. 

We can avail ourselves these days of a number of skills to increase our resilience. Here are two:

1 – Focus on what you want, versus what’s missing.

2 – Remove negative self-talk. 

Negative self-talk gets you exactly what you don’t want.  Rather than saying, “I need” (a rearward looking word that fills a gap), replace it with “I want” or “I get to” (Injects positive energy moving toward what you want in a challenging situation.)

Remember: Stress can actually be our friend!