[美文欣賞]

What would you say when you are under work pressure, "stressed out and frantic" or "challenged and energized"? There is very little physiological difference between the two, says a growing contingent of experts who claim works stress has an upside. These experts believe that stress can strengthen you or tear you down. In most cases, you can choose.

Give stress a good name why recent work stress -- it's an indicator that your career is advancing. Think of a heavy work load as an exciting opportunity to push yourself, learn new skills and show your mettle. Complaining depletes your energy; instead greet an overloaded day with optimism. Tell yourself, "This is a challenge i am capable of handling."

Put it in perspective sometimes it's impossible to talk about the positive side of stress -- say your computer crashes and you lose valuable work -- but you can moderate your reaction. Rate your distress on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being mild irritation and 10 extreme panic or anger.

Now, rank the importance of the situation from 1 ( a notice )to 10 ( you're fired ). If your distress ranks higher than the seriousness of the situation, ask yourself: Is this something i will remember in four years, four months, four days? Then downshift your response accordingly, saving your emotinal energy for disasters.

[參考譯文]

學會利用工作壓力

當你受到工作壓力的時候，你會說些什么，是“快受不了了，要發瘋了”還是“很有挑戰性呀”?越來越大比例的專家認為工作壓力有其積極的一面，他們認為，本質上，上述兩種說法的區別不大。這些專家相信，壓力要么可以讓你更有力量，要么可以把你打垮。多數情況下，你是有得選的。

如果我們要給工作壓力起個好聽的說法的話，可以說它說明了你的工作在進步。把大的工作量作為一種推動你自己向前、學習新技能、展示你的精神風貌的好機會。抱怨只會讓你精疲力竭，相反，應以樂觀的態度對待每日重工作。對自己說：“這個問題，我能搞定。”

有時候，你可能找不出壓力有什么好處，比如電腦突然壞掉了，你失業了，但這時候，你可以舒緩自己的情緒。把自己的沮喪分個級，從1到10，1是微怒，10是極度恐慌或暴怒。

現在再把所面臨的狀況按重要性分個級，從1到10，1是接到一個臨時通知，10是你被炒魷魚了。如果你的沮喪程度比所面臨問題和重要性要高的話，那就問問自己：這些事情我還要記多久?四年?四個月?四天?因此別做出太激動的反應了，省省力量以面對將來更為嚴重的問題。