A Stressful Life = A Meaningful Life
Last week, I referenced Dr Kelly McGonigal’s description of stress: "What arises when something you care about is at stake” (McGonigal, 2015, p. xxi). This week, I want to take this one step farther with something else Dr. McGonigal wrote as the title of a chapter in one of her books: “A stressful life is a meaningful life” (p. 63). I would encourage you to re-read that again…
Initially I had to re-read that chapter title a couple times to let this idea sink in. As I read through the chapter, I realized she made a really good point plus backed it up w/ research. She helped me change my mindset about stress and meaning. Let’s dive into this relationship between stress and meaning.
I invite you to ask yourself a few questions: What makes my life meaningful? What do I care about? What gets me out of bed each day, even when I don’t want to?
A common thread w/ your answers would likely be the following: What we care about or value will inherently bring on stress. Think about it. A family member, partner, child, job, relationship, parenting, a hobby or passion - stress is built in to any of those! This is part of life. If you had no stress in your life, would you really have anything that you strongly believed in and cared about? Would you even get out of bed? I would say probably not. Dr. McGonigal (2015, p. 65) might have said it best: “people with very meaningful lives worry more and have more stress than people w/ less meaningful lives.” This may come across as negative or unhealthy; however, think back to a time in your life when (and if) you experienced a lack of purpose or meaning. I’m guessing you might have been struggling at that time, perhaps feeling lost or unsure of yourself. We think we want less stress in our lives which, yes, at times, sounds wonderful and needed. However, stress can also keep us on our toes. Stress is inevitable when engaging in roles and pursuing goals that give you meaning and purpose such as work, parenting, relationships, caregiving (McGonigal, 2015). Next week’s blog post will continue talking about this topic and go one step farther.
Source:
McGonigal, Kelly. (2015). The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It. United Kingdom: Vermilion.
