I’m obsessed with Kelly McGonigal’s TED Talk: How to Make Stress Your Friend.
She sites an incredible study. It turns out being extremely stressed increases your risk of death by 43%. No shock there.
But, what is fascinating is that people who were extremely stressed, but viewed stress as a positive, not only were not more likely to die, they had the lowest death rates of anyone in the study, including those with little stress.
Stress isn’t killing us. The belief that stress is bad is. How we perceive stress has been shown to affect how our body biologically responds to it. For example, people who believe that stress is a positive factor don’t constrict their blood vessels, leading to a healthier response.
Stress improves performance, creating more blood flow to our brain. Increasing our alertness, and even releasing oxytocin, compelling us to connect to others.
Stress is a given in a busy working mom’s life. So, let’s control what we can—our response.
So today, take a deep breath and meet your new friend, stress.