July 7, 2026- Stress is not our undoing

Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.

~Walt Whitman

Stress does not have to kill us. Stress doesn’t have to lead us into the darkness. Every stressful moment is an opportunity for the best of us to show up. Stress can expose our strengths and expand our resilience.

Can stress damage us? Is stress a contributing factor to many of our health problems? Absolutely. Time and time again, stress has been named by media outlets and by health organizations as an epidemic.

It is unrealistic to say that we will remove stress from our lives. No matter how carefully we plan, nor how sound our habits, we are not going to be free from stress. In fact, every time we exercise, introduce ourselves to a new person, or play a game on our phones, we are inviting stress, and we like it. We actually don’t like a stress-free life.

How do we make sure stress is not our undoing? Simply enough, the best thing we can do is believe it won’t be. If we remember that circumstances are temporary, but our strengths and our skills are enduring, stress doesn’t have to destroy us. If we reflect on the fact that we have struggled before and overcame it, stress will not beat us down. If we, as Walt Whitman said, “keep your face always toward the sunshine,“ the darkness of stress will not consume us.