Today’s “Stress Less, Achieve More” table talk made me realize that I expend so much energy dreading stress. In a sense, I almost stress about upcoming stresses. Accordingly, I really agree that thinking about a healthy level of stress as a motivator—an energizing force that can lead me to finish and conquer whatever it is that is concerning me in the first place—can be so helpful. Also, this point made me wonder if perhaps thinking about stress in this positive way may actually be a tool that can help me remain at healthy, motivating level of stress instead of letting it build up to a detrimental, debilitating level. More specifically, when I get that initial sort of jolt of stress—or that feeling that there is no way I will be able to do what I need to do and accomplish what I want to accomplish—perhaps I can tell myself that the concern about finishing my work and doing it the best that I can is going to provide a driving force that will help me surmount this challenge. I previously felt that stress was this anchor that attached itself to me, and it was just a very unpleasant weight or burden that I had no choice but to deal with. Now, I want to start to of stress as a windstorm and my own perspective, or how I view the stressful situation in which I find myself, as a sail. If I set of my perspective just right, I can harness all that stress energy and use it to push me forward. Another very, very important piece of insight I gained from the table talk is that when the burden of stress is so heavy that I cannot really take a step back and change my perspective, I should reach out to people for help and find an outlet for this stress. I think this point is really important because it can be really easy to feel like there is nothing that will alleviate the load of stress besides enduring it until the stress-inducing semester, situation, experience or assignment has passed.

Essentially, I think the most important take-away I left the table talk with was the sense that it is okay to be stressed. It was also very reassuring to know that everyone else is stressed just like I am. As a couple people brought up, it is very easy to look around, see people going out several nights a week and participating in a ton of clubs, and think that there you are doing something wrong because you are so stressed and not even taking on as much as others. Thinking about how everyone is stressed but experiences this stress differently is heartening.