Healthy Stress: Can It Really Exist?

As a blog about stress, I feel like I constantly focus on the harm of stress. But just as stress can be harmful, it can be healthy too! Now I'm not talking about the loads of stress you feel over family or finances, but the little stress we feel that gets us motivated. As long as the stress isn't chronic and doesn't linger then it could actually be helping you. Recent research from Stanford's School of Medicine reveal that short bursts of stress can actually improve your immune system and help prevent tumor growth later in life. Research also shows that, at a certain level, stress not only motivates us to accomplish certain tasks, but helps one perform at optimal alertness and performance. Interesting that something so harmful can actually be helpful in small doses. Something to think about at the least :)

Grief and Stress

At some point in life, probably even a few times, everyone must face something that causes them grief. Recently, I've been dealing with the grief of a loved one passing and it has been one of the hardest and most stressful things I have yet to face. Not only have I felt pain and emotional stress from just dealing with thee loss of my loved one, but I've also felt stress because of how I'm grieving. I know its normal for everyone to grief differently, but at times it feels as though I've barely grieved at a lot l. I feel like I'm more in denial then anything else, which makes it even harder because then I get stressed thinking about how I need to make myself grieve. I see my other family members crying or lashing out, but I have yet to experience either. I know it takes time and I'll make it through, but I just wanted to write this post as a reminder to myself and anyone else out there dealing with this issue that grieving takes time and truly is different for everyone.