It’s a figure of speech that we ‘handle’ stress; like it’s some kind of hot potato we need to use mits to move from one place to another.

I remember early experiences of stress that was pleasant; like nervous excitement. My body felt jittery, but good. Then when the enjoyable activity I was stressed about was happening, the stress sensation went away.

Then, I remember unpleasant stress; like when I was a store manager and had to go up against an irate customer. My hands were shaking beyond my control, but I firmly dealt with him professionally as best as a manager could.

The physical reactions in my body that must be from stress became bad now, after going through a very traumatic experience. Why didn’t I run away and avoid what I knew was making me physically sick? IDK...