By Angelica Ribeiro, PhD
Last month was especially stressful for me. In addition to my regular teaching and writing commitments, I had to complete two other major writing projects and present at a conference. As if that weren’t enough, I unexpectedly experienced significant pain in one of my legs, which required several medical appointments. Juggling all of this work and managing my physical discomfort made last month particularly stressful. I found myself faced with two choices regarding how to view stress: I could see it as either helpful or harmful.
While many people tend to view stress as harmful, Kelly McGonigal encourages us to see it as helpful. In her book The Upside of Stress, she points out three key ways in which stress can benefit us:
