Are You Eustressed Out?

Something that I have been incredibly intrigued with lately is stress. Stress is not always a bad thing. Hard to believe I know! Stress is simply the body's response to changes that create taxing demands In daily life, we often use the term "stress" to describe negative situations. I really loved the image I was taught in my Mind and Body Health class when explaining the different ways we each experience stress.
There are two types of stress. EUSTRESS or positive stress and DISTRESS, which is synonymous with the term we usually associate with stress, or negative stress.
Stress is something we all have to experience whether it is physically, spiritually, mentally, or emotionally. The key is how we cope that makes all the difference.
My favorite example that I've come across in explaining this concept is the example of passengers on a roller coaster. Sally, the passenger in the front of the car, with her hands up in the air screaming and in a state of euphoria, would be experiencing EUSTRESS, which has positive effects for her mind and body. Where as Paul, sitting right next her, who has his hands clenched around the bar in front of him, wondering how Sally possibly talked him into getting on the ride. His heart speeds up and he experiences utter fear. Paul is experiencing DISTRESS.
Now I will ask you to think of experiences in your life. Are you more apt to experience EUSTRESS or DISTRESS and how much of it is your choice? You can choose to be like Sally or Paul on the same roller coaster of life, having completely different experiences. I challenge you to try to work on changing your DISTRESS into EUSTRESS and using the power of positive thinking to increasing your personal quality of life. YOU CAN DO IT!