Retirement Goals: Balance the Good with the Bad…. Stress, that is!
April 25, 2019
Everyone experiences stress. That’s a fact. How a person reacts to different types of stressors in life can either present opportunities for the future or present detrimental effects mentally and physically. Everyone’s retirement goals are different and unique to their lifestyle choices, financial situations, and healthcare needs but Pisgah Valley residents can all agree that it’s important to find a balance to the stress life can bring. With that being said, stress can be categorized into two groups – Eustress and Distress.
Eustress
Eustress or positive stress represent challenges that can aid in the growth of an individual. For example, eustress could be solving a mystery, winning a game, resolving conflict or reaching the peak of a tall Asheville, North Carolina mountain during a hike. This type of stress helps a person to improve his or her performance. This type of stress builds confidence, strength, and resilience! At Pisgah Valley, we host ongoing opportunities to experience eustress including but not limited to fitness classes, board games, walking groups, group discussions, and book clubs.
When hearing the word “stress”, most people don’t instantly think of good stress or eustress instead they think of bad stress also known as distress.
Distress
Distress or negative stress represents challenges and changes that results in negatively affecting one’s wellbeing such as raising their blood pressure, causing headaches, bad moods and difficulty sleeping or relaxing. Examples of distress are doing poorly on a test, being involved in a car accident, participating in ongoing family conflict or having financial problems without the means to dig out of the hole.
You know the saying, “take the good with the bad?” Managing stress is very much like this. Methods for dealing with distressful situations rely on the incorporation of eustress. For example, choosing to participate in game night with friends at Pisgah Valley’s community center can provide relaxation all while socializing and challenging your brain to perform in the game. After a day of distress, a game night at Pisgah Valley’s community center could provide the eustress balance you need. Once this balance can be reached and learned, a person will most likely find themselves thriving in everyday life and achieving quality rest along with inner and outer peace on a consistent basis; this is a goal supported by the entire retirement community and programs at Pisgah Valley.