Introduction

It's unavoidable, actually. Even when you think of the most stress-free things in life, there are still concerns. If you go to the beach on vacation, you take your stress on vacation too: you're concerned about the cost of the trip, getting sun poisoning, or if there are sharks in the water waiting for an ankle to gnaw. Stress! It's everywhere.

Eustress is Actually Good

Eustress. Sometimes stress is actually a good thing. Good stress is called eustress (pronounced You-Stress, which is kind of ironic). Good stress is when you get amped up by a challenge: when you get a promotion and you have exciting new responsibilities, or when you get a new cookbook and buy all the ingredients to try a complicated dish, or you visit a new city and have to learn your way around. None of these things are stress-free, but when something provides excitement or a fun challenge, that's eustress.

The Good Thing About Eustress

The good thing about eustress and even some other stressors is that they help us grow. Most people think it'd be nice if all the stress went away. But if all the stress went away, we'd never had new experiences or become the best version of ourselves. Stress is really a good thing, until it piles up and we can't respond effectively anymore, then it starts to cause harm.

Stress Is Not The Same For Everyone

We aren't all the same. We have different strengths, weaknesses and skill sets. Thus, what might be stressful for some people is not stressful for others. It all comes down to our perception, the particular way we experience things. However, polls show that most people in modern society find work to be the most stressful thing in their life, followed by money, job stability and health issues about themselves and their families. People are also stressed about time and relationships.

Stress Associated With Inflammation

You guessed it. Stress is associated with the higher levels of inflammation in the body. Scientists have studied the blood of people who were stressed at work, or stressed from being unemployed. They've studied the blood of people who were stressed due to finances, relationships, discrimination, or because they're caring full time for a loved one with dementia. It doesn't really matter what the stressor is, what matters is that is seems to cause the body harm and their blood shows it. There is a whole new field of study on this sort of thing called psychoneuroendocrinology, which means the study of how our minds, nervous system and our hormones interact with each other. These scientists are starting to unravel how stress makes us sick.

What Can You Do About Stress?

What can you do? Most of the things we do to manage stress actually don't work! But we keep doing them anyway. We overeat, drink margaritas, shop, gamble, shout at someone, gossip and feed the rumor mill. For some reason, these things feel good for a minute, but they don't actually take our stress levels down. It turns out, all the things that battle stress are a tad dull, but they work.

Stress Busters

1. Pay attention to what stresses you out and how you respond. Most of us actually make our stress worse, instead of better (angry outbursts, a spending spree, forming a coalition and talking bad about someone). Next time you're really stressed out, try to observe your behavior. Is it helping? Or making it worse. Try to break the cycle and try something new.
2. Move your body. We just went over exercise, but it can't be said enough. Moving your body changes your brain. It changes how you perceive stress. It changes how you deal with stress. Do yoga, go on a walk, sprint until you fall over, walk up and down the stairs, put on loud music and dance like crazy. Just DO something.
3. Quiet your mind. Start your day with some sort of practice to quiet your mind and find hope in your life. You could meditate, practice mindfulness, recite inspirational quotes, watch funny YouTube videos, do breath-work, pray, journal or read something deeply inspirational. All of these things work. They help put our mind in a better starting point for the day. And some of the practices, like meditation, actually begin to change how your mind works all day long.
4. Talk to a friend. Just be careful - some friends make stress worse. Some make it better. Sometimes having a friend agree with you is exactly what you need. Sometimes you need that friend that will challenge you with how you're behaving. Find a friend...But choose wisely.