According to a Talk I Heard, Stress is Good

A Talk About Stress

I heard a really interesting TED talk today by Kelly McGonigal called How to Make Stress Your Friend.

• She talked about how thoughts are manifested in the body - so if a person thinks stress is bad they have a higher risk of something bad happening. 
• She also mentioned that when a person is stressed they release a hormone called Oxytocin which she said makes you social. Apparently when a person is stressed they need human interaction - which feels to them like a hug and calms them down. 
• She said to look at stress in a positive way: for example, when the heart pounds, thinking of it as getting more oxygen to the brain, and when the body temperature is raised, thinking of it as gaining courage. 

I really liked this talk and hearing her scientific explanation about stress. To view this talk click here.

How I Felt About Stress

Many years ago, one of my children talked about stress at home-having learned about it at school. I considered my life and couldn't identify any stress-if someone asked me about my stress, I would have said that I had none.

Stresses in My Life

Before getting MS I didn't consider myself stressed but as I look back to that time here are the stresses I see: 

1. I served my family no matter how I felt.
2. I wanted to do everything perfectly.
3. I was the Young Women's President at church; and prepared to do that calling at least twice a week. 
4. I worked a full-time job in Corporate America (where I dealt with many personalities). 
5. I had my own business that I did in my spare time. 
6. I did my visiting teaching every month, and visited at least three women. 
7. I cleaned my house. 
8. I cooked every day. 

I believe people are resilient and can handle a lot of pressure. Life hands out pressure and people don't want to deal with it, but they do because they tackle what has to be done. 

After getting MS I dealt with these different stresses:

1. I didn't know what was happening to me and felt scared that I might die. 
2. I had "moments" (where I froze for 5 or 6 seconds) and my words slurred.
3. I couldn't drive for seven months. 
4. I had to quit working. 
5. I got released from being Young Women's President. 
6. My entire body, especially my hands, got weak.
7. I could no longer sing or play the piano.
8. I could no longer write. 
9. I could no longer type fast. 
10. Some people stopped caring about me face-to-face and only cared about me from a distance.
11. I learned the truth about a few things that hurt my heart.
12. My disease progressed and caused me to walk slowly, speak differently, and stop driving permanently.
13. Many more things.

The Good Side of Stress

When looking at the stresses in my life it would be sad if they encompassed the whole story, but they didn't because many blessings happen in my life, too. When I consider my stresses and blessings, the blessings win. (I'm very grateful that Heavenly Father blesses me with things that help me deal with my disease.) 

A Recommendation

The TED talk about stress made me think about many things. Consider listening to it, it's only 15 minutes long.