{"id":9711,"date":"2017-11-10T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=9711"},"modified":"2017-11-04T08:58:19","modified_gmt":"2017-11-04T12:58:19","slug":"stress-can-positive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html","title":{"rendered":"Using Positive Stress To Push Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-9713\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2017\/11\/freerider-498473_1920-300x194.jpg\" alt=\"freerider-498473_1920\" width=\"300\" height=\"194\" \/>Is there a positive side of stress or a way to make stress work for you?\u00a0We all know the negative side of stress-sleeplessness, weight gain, restlessness, forgetfulness, and in the worst cases, heart problems.<\/p>\n<p>But positive stress can push you forward and help you master a scary thing.\u00a0\u00a0Think about the time you faced that scary ski slope and pushed off at the top of the hill? You were stressed, a little terrified actually, but also invigorated and excited. The stress of a steep mountain\u00a0made you take on a new challenge. The reason was because you perceived that stress to be positive. And when the perception of stress is positive, it can excite, energize and make you more alert. In fact, you can thrive on stress that is perceived to be positive and challenges you to grow.<br \/>\nAs your body begins to feel the signs of stress&#8211;heart racing, nervous, sweaty palms, etc., think of those signs as your body&#8217;s way of preparing you to meet the challenge of something new. If your attitude is, &#8220;I&#8217;m getting ready to face the challenging thing&#8221; versus, &#8220;Oh no, I can&#8217;t do this&#8221; you will be using stress in a positive way.<\/p>\n<p>How you react to the stress matters. Now if the stress controls you and stays with you for a long time, this is when you begin to get into trouble. So the way you think of the stress will help you overcome it.<\/p>\n<p>First don&#8217;t be afraid of new challenges and things that are a bit uncomfortable. Tell yourself, it&#8217;s normal to feel fear, anxiety or even panic for a moment. Recognize this,\u00a0\u00a0but imagine yourself tackling it and working through it. Keep going forward and tell yourself, &#8220;I can handle this. It is no big deal!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When you face\u00a0a stressful situation, make sure you don&#8217;t expect yourself to face it perfectly. Give yourself some grace and a little room to falter or even fail the first time. Simply breath and try again. Most people overcome stress by facing it head on and learning that they can work through it.<\/p>\n<p>So stare down that mountain, take a deep breath, tell yourself you can do it, use your stress response to push off the top of the mountain and take charge. At the bottom of the hill (stress), you will look back and say, &#8220;That wasn&#8217;t so bad!&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is there a positive side of stress or a way to make stress work for you?\u00a0We all know the negative side of stress-sleeplessness, weight gain, restlessness, forgetfulness, and in the worst cases, heart problems. But positive stress can push you forward and help you master a scary thing.\u00a0\u00a0Think about the time you faced that scary&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4099],"tags":[4098,4097],"class_list":["post-9711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stress","tag-positive-stess","tag-stress-coping"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Using Positive Stress To Push Forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Using Positive Stress To Push Forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is there a positive side of stress or a way to make stress work for you?\u00a0We all know the negative side of stress-sleeplessness, weight gain, restlessness, forgetfulness, and in the worst cases, heart problems. But positive stress can push you forward and help you master a scary thing.\u00a0\u00a0Think about the time you faced that scary&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-10T11:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-11-04T12:58:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/11\/freerider-498473_1920-300x194.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Using Positive Stress To Push Forward","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Using Positive Stress To Push Forward","og_description":"Is there a positive side of stress or a way to make stress work for you?\u00a0We all know the negative side of stress-sleeplessness, weight gain, restlessness, forgetfulness, and in the worst cases, heart problems. But positive stress can push you forward and help you master a scary thing.\u00a0\u00a0Think about the time you faced that scary&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2017-11-10T11:00:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-11-04T12:58:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/11\/freerider-498473_1920-300x194.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html","name":"Using Positive Stress To Push Forward","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/11\/freerider-498473_1920-300x194.jpg","datePublished":"2017-11-10T11:00:49+00:00","dateModified":"2017-11-04T12:58:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/11\/freerider-498473_1920-300x194.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/11\/freerider-498473_1920-300x194.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/11\/stress-can-positive.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Using Positive Stress To Push Forward"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9711"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9715,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9711\/revisions\/9715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}