Positive Stress

I think one myth a lot of us live under is that ‘stress’ is blanketly and completely bad, to be avoided to the extent possible. Maybe not, you know.

I think stress can be either positive stress or negative stress, and likely decided by choice of reason or outcome; with the positive being that which tends to growth and the negative being that which drags one down. 

Stress taken on due to worry over situations that we have no control over is definitely negative, and really a waste of energy and pretty much pointless. That’s the stress you don’t want to take on.  So lets dump that.

But the positive one is what happens when caused by a situation we have sought out. And that’s where I think it helps to accept it and surrender to it and maybe even use it, rather than fight it.

This is sounding a little vague, so let me use an example. My recent presentation at Goa; It caused me a tremendous amount of stress. Just the fact that I was still too new in Selco to be representing the company at such a critical forum, my horrible fear of public speaking, the fact that the forum meets only once a year. All very stressful. But it was part of the path I'd chosen, and to that extent it made sense to accept it rather than fight it.

When I was making this decision of quitting Google for Selco, I was very aware of the comforts I was giving up to take on unknown difficulties, and a lot of good advice came my way of doing it on sabbatical to see if I would fit. But what really tilted the balance was when this friend quoted Bruce Lee...... 'when you are going into a fight, be prepared for the bruises and the broken bones'. And when I'm in my high stress zones, it really helps to recall this as it makes the acceptance that much easier.

It’s like a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage is typically wrought with difficulties, right? Here I'm loosely using difficulties as equated to stress.

A pilgrimage can mean a journey to an external place of belief and faith or also an internal journey into one’s own beliefs or search for meaning. 

We all strive for peace and happiness. Fair enough. But happiness and peace are states of mind, and once you're there. they are more like static states. And what’s worse, if we decide to stay there, it could actually be dangerous…it could even get boring, and a static state is really not desirable. 

So, should our ultimate goal be peace and happiness, or should we be leveraging that to go further into looking for meaning and/or learning? 

Now learning could bring stress…it likely will. Finding meaning, working towards it....getting out of comfort zone, could bring stress, probably will.

This is positive stress. Something that's being opted for by choice. and is part of an enabling process.

Learning, Growing,  Meaning.....I think these are dynamic spaces that make you really come alive. The way to be at any age, yet feel like, you know the Bryan Adams..... Eighteen till I die.  I personally prefer a thirty or forty till I die maybe, but you get the message, right?  :)