The Stress Club Membership Levels
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Congratulations! In this club, Bronze is much better than what you think of in the Olympics. It means you are doing well in your reactions to the world view on stress. You have the ability to be a leader in this movement to change the world!
In the Olympics, Silver means you almost made it. In this club, it means that as well, but in the other direction - toward Bronze! You have a foundation to work with here, so now it's time to take the next step to rejecting stress and taking your life back!
Unlike the Olympics, Gold is not the level to strive for. The good news is, there is a plan for you to move to Silver and ultimately Bronze. The fact that you took the quiz and were honest is a fantastic sign that you are ready to be part of the anti-stress movement!
What Do the Questions Mean?
The quiz questions are based on 3 areas of life that can keep women in bondage to stress. Each is explained below:
Stress is part of the real world
Questions 3, 5, 6, 12
Life is hard. Real life isn’t fun. People with simple lives are hiding something or financially blessed or on the verge of some tragedy. Life is stressful. You hear statements like this all the time. So is society more stressful today than ever before? Are we at the mercy of the real world? I don’t mean to discount anything you have been or are going through, but these are just not true blanket statements. What IS true is that Americans feel more and more stressed every year! It is time to pay attention to the messages we see every day. Makeup commercials tell us we need to do 10 things at once perfectly. Mattress commercials tell us those of us in the real world are lucky to get any sleep. News anchors tell us life has never been more stressful. This message becomes so ingrained that we do not question it. Let’s take our power back!
I’m responsible
Questions 2, 7, 8, 10
Recall the underlying messages we just listed: life is supposed to be busy, crazy, unhappy, & stressed! So, what happens then? Well, if you’re not busy, crazy, unhappy and stressed then something’s wrong with you. Maybe you’re not responsible! And a big issue for women’s identities are the belief systems we’ve developed over lifetimes of experiences between us and the world. These messages then feed into who we are and what identities we create when we talk. It comes out in ways like No I could never take a nap! I could never take time for myself! And oftentimes when we do say we did something such as take the afternoon off of work, we follow it up with a disclaimer: but I’ll sure work overtime tomorrow!! Do you hear it? I’M RESPONSIBLE! We need to stop equating stress with responsibility.
I’m like you
Questions 1, 4, 9, 11
Women’s language tends to be relational. I describe it as a pattern rather than a norm because it is not always about relationships. One common outcome of girl talk is building rapport, and sometimes we engage in what’s called trouble talk. Troubles talk allows us to form bonds and create relationships. We support and encourage. Let me point out that this bonding isn’t always bad. We need our girlfriends for that support and camaraderie around life’s messy days! But sometimes this solidarity leads to problems – like a strong connection to being stressed out. You may not realize that your desire to be a part of the group, the club, is so strong that you either reject self-care or carefully choose not to talk about it. It’s time to bond with our friends in a different, more healthy way.