Stress v. Challenge

Alexander Liss

06/30/04

A term Stress has negative connotation for a reason. Often, a relaxed state is perceived as an opposite to Stressed state. In contrast to the Stressed state, we see this state as a positive.

However, a prolonged passive relaxed state could be as damaging as the stressed state. It is normal for a living being to be perpetually challenged. Hence, the opposite of the stressed state should be a challenged state.

At a first glance, the difference between the Stress and the Challenge is in a degree. However, it goes much further.

The Stress damages, the Challenge stimulates growth. The Stress causes creation of defensive mechanisms alien to a person, the Challenge tests person's perceptions and habits and causes destruction of mechanisms, which are no longer adequate to the person's essence and person's situation. The Stress does not provide new unknown input, while the Challenge is unexpected and it is accompanied by a bodily reaction to novelty (emotion).

The Challenge causes growth (up to limits of this growth increment). The Stress is an attempt to expand (or hold back one's own) beyond natural limits of incremental growth (or natural ability to resist). For this attempt one pays with incremental self-destruction.

Growth, expansion at least in some spheres is a characteristic of a living being. In the process of growth, one is challenged and overcomes obstacles. Living being, which can't grow, usually decays. Hence, the Challenge is inseparable from being healthily, alive.

This general observation should be applied to various forms of activity:

Regular physical exercise where the body is challenged every time to achieve a little bit more than it is accustomed leads to growth and development of challenged areas. Excessive load leads to illness and deterioration of physical abilities.

Regular application of one's mind in mentally challenging situations leads to development of the mind and its ability to perform in old age. Mental overload with problems without solutions and too much work leads to deterioration of mental abilities.

Rich emotional life, where a person is challenged in various ways and has emotional reactions, leads to development of sophisticated and flexible system of emotional responses. Prolonged emotional overload, for example with fear, leads to exhaustion and inability to function properly (depression, etc.)