This Will Change How You View Stress
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV)
To complement last week’s post about being stressed out, I thought we’d revisit a previous post on a different way of looking at stress…
This past week in my college classes we were discussing stress…including its symptoms, causes, advantages, disadvantages, and how to manage it. Since we are all about being Happy, Healthy and Prosperous at this website, I thought it fitting to discuss stress here too since it can have an impact on all three areas…our happiness, our prosperity and definitely our health.
The dictionary defines stress as physical, mental or emotional strain or tension. Things that happen in our life can contribute to strong feelings of worry or anxiety. We can also feel stress when a variety of demands on us increase or when we feel threatened by a situation. There are many things that can factor in or add to stress, and most commonly stress has a negative connotation. Stress can, however, be leveraged for good if balanced properly.
In class I showed a TED Talk video about how to make stress your friend. This video greatly changed the way I have always perceived stress. After viewing it myself, I immediately wanted to share it with my friends and family. I would also like to share it here. The video is about 14 minutes long, but it’s well worth the watch when you have the time. Who knows…It may even prolong and enhance your life! If you don’t have time to watch it now, I highly encourage you to bookmark the video link page and watch it later. You can watch/bookmark the video on the TED website by clicking here or by clicking on the YouTube site link here (both sites have a “Watch Later” option).
Our perception affects stress’s impact
I think it’s interesting that Kelly McGonigal points out that the extent to which stress affects us negatively depends on our perception of it. If we look at the symptoms of stress as good, as our body preparing us to meet the challenge ahead, then the good overcomes the potential negative outcomes. It’s amazing that God designed our bodies to respond to stressful situations in a way to make us stronger and to beat them. I think that’s how God wants us to look at our negative situations, circumstances and surroundings. If we can stay focused on the good and know that we have Christ inside of us preparing us to meet our challenges, we can be overcomers.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:6-9 (NIV)
“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4 (ESV)
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4-5 (ESV)
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV)
Peace=antidote to stress
The bible says that we can overcome and have peace. To me, peace is the antidote to stress. Our goal should be to get to a place of peace. We can have peace in the midst of stressful situations. A lot of having peace in a situation is up to us. It’s all about our attitudes, perspectives and choices. I often share this story to emphasize the importance of perspective when I teach about managing stress:
Picture of Peace
By Catherine Marshall
There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.
But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest – in perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?
“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”
We are a product of our choices, not our environment
We need to realize that we are a product of our choices NOT our environment. It doesn’t matter what is going on around us. It’s how we choose to react or act on it that truly matters. Taking action is also brought up in the video.
Kelly mentions a different side of our stress response with the body’s release of the oxytocin hormone. According to the studies she cites, this stress response hormone motivates us to take action by seeking support and/or reaching out and helping others. This then in turn helps us to become healthier both physically and emotionally, and we recover faster from stress. She points out that we can become more resilient to stress through our human connections.
This is a scriptural concept as well. God meant for us to need each other and to need Him.
“The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”” Genesis 2:18 (NIV)
“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NLT)
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
Courage and resilience to stress
The overall conclusion was that we can develop courage and resilience to stress by how we choose to think and how we choose to act. Kelly ended the video by saying “Chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid discomfort…Go after what creates meaning in your life and then trust yourself to handle the stress that follows.”[1] I have found this to be very true in my own life. If whatever is causing me stress is important enough to me, if I can see the purpose behind it, or if I can foresee a greater good or outcome, I know the stress will pale in comparison.
“These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (MSG)
Take Some Practical Steps to Change How You View Stress:
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First, make an effort to see and focus on the good.
Try to see that when you are in stressful situations, your body will attempt to prepare you for the challenge. Think of it as your body trying to help you out. Don’t automatically view your stress responses as negative. Attempt to focus on the positive and think about things that are true, noble, right, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). Do not let negative situations, circumstances, thoughts or people dwell in your mind or affect you.
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Secondly, seek peace in the midst of stress.
Remember the story of the mother bird nesting behind a raging waterfall in the middle of a storm. You can’t always make the storm go away, but you might be able to find peace in the midst of the storm. Choose to be at peace in your heart. You are not a product of your environment! Just because there might be a mess around you does not make you a mess.
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Then, seek support as well as reaching out and helping others.
Remember that studies have shown that getting and giving support can actually relieve your stress and make you even more resilient to it! Rely on others and rely on God. Isolation can be one of the worst things you can do when you are feeling stressed.
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Finally, pursue meaning in your life, and stress will be minimized.
Sometimes if you can step back and see the bigger picture, the outcome will be worth the stress that you encounter.
We’ll talk more about stress in future posts and discuss some other ways to manage stress.
How do you need to view stress differently? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.
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If you have benefited from this post or if you know anyone that could benefit from this, please pay it forward and share this post with them via the sharing links below! “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
**Updated: Original post September 22, 2015
[1] McGonigal, Kelly. How to Make Stress Your Friend. TED, June 2013, www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend.
