Every health and lifestyle magazine contains articles claiming stress is bad for us. They list dozens of ways to relieve stress, from exercise to healthier foods to relaxation techniques especially for people who take care of others and tend to neglect themselves.
But stress is not always as bad as these cautionary articles insist. In fact, some stress is actually necessary to keep us going and growing.
Our individual responses to different types and levels of stress can either drain or energize us. It is how we perceive and process both ongoing and unexpected stressors that intensifies or reduces their impact on our bodies, minds and emotions.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed removing the Tennessee purple coneflower from the list of threatened and endangered species, marking the success of a decades-long cooperative conservation effort under the Endangered Species Act.