Stress vs. Distress

​     I Am My Sister's Keeper had its third support group on Saturday, July 20th. We played a very interesting and informative game in which we all wrote our 3 favorite movies, 3 favorite songs and 3 facts about ourselves down on slips of paper. The slips of paper were put into a bowl and passed around. Each participant had to try to figure out who the fact belonged to.Needless to say, this lead to some very interesting conversations. And that was the point! It was fun, y'all. 

     I then read a reading on Stress vs. Distress. This also lead to some very stimulating and open dialogue. We discussed triggers of stress and our sometimes unhealthy responses to it. I shared how positive speech and self talk have aided me in my dealings with stress. How I speak life and listen to uplifting things even when i don't "feel" like it. Our resident therapist, Tara Seay, affirmed my "fake it till you make it" approach by explaining to us how our behaviors dig memory tunnels that often cause us to react to stress in the same damaging ways. She went on to say that if we retrain our brain with words or activities that we may not really "feel" at present, those words and/or activities can become our realities. 

     I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's group and am excited about the next one!