Stress is something everyone experiences at one point or another. Many think it’s helpful and use it as a form of motivation, while others completely shut down. I think stress can be both.

I am constantly stressed out with completing school work, playing sports, working at a job, and maintaining a social life. However, once finding the right balance, everything falls into place and it feels amazing. I see it sort of like a never ending staircase. The stress is the bottom, but as I overcome each stressful thing, I work my way up to the top.

Stress can motivate me to do better and keep up with things like schoolwork. I use stress mostly as a motivator. I want to overcome it so that I can have free time or go hang out with friends, but I don’t feel like I can until I have everything accomplished.

I know people that work better in stressful situations that they do in average situations. There are lots of jobs that will cause stress but still require that people push through in order to get it done. Think of a doctor performing an operation. They couldn’t just stop in the middle because they got stressed, they have to finish. I like to think that after the doctor would finish there would be a huge sense of accomplishment and relief, as there often is whenever I finish certain tasks.

When overwhelmed in work or something else, I may shut down for a while until I manage to climb out of all my work. I would definitely say that there are times when stress is too much. It can be a real downer, but finally finishing it feels great.

Stress is a battle, but it’s one that we can always win.