Do You Need Stress?

“The ways and means are available to me...The only question to be asked then is: ‘How much discomfort am I willing to sit with before I invite the answer to be revealed?’”—Dale Jukes

- By Gregg Sanderson

What single factor affects your personal health, your emotional well-being, and ages you before your time?

I’ll bet dollars to donuts (gluten-free) that every article in this magazine refers to it and suggests a solution.

Here’s a hint. You have full control over it, yet you’re often taught that the solution lies outside of you.

It goes by many names. Some call it suffering, some call it unhappiness, and some call it stress.

Many ways are offered to counteract the effects and reduce stress:

• Pray, meditate, or use Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to calm your mind.

• Explore counseling, therapy, and any number of effective disciplines.

• Exercise and take mood elevators.

• And let’s not forget our old friends sex, drugs, and rock & roll.

They all may help, but none seem to zero in on the single cause of discomfort, poor health, and unhappiness that we call stress. Obviously I will, so here we go:

Stress is the product of our common Stimulus —> Response paradigm. Something happens and you respond. Stressful Situation —> Stress.