Benzene question

I have a question. So benzene’s enthalpy change of hydrogenation is less exothermic than what was expected for Kekule’s model, and in my textbook it says that this shows benzene is “more energetically stable” than expected - why does being less exothermic mean that it’s more energetically stable and what does it even mean to be energetically stable?

Benzene forms a resonance structure in which the electrons are delocalised creating a p orbital ring structure. Because the elections are in the centre of the ring the structure is less likely to react and therefore is more stable. More stable molecules are said to be less exothermic, but remember that all exothermic reactions are negative - so being les exothermic means that it is harder to break bonds and therefore is more stable. I think that makes sense.

So basically the more exothermic a reaction is, the less energy will be required to break bonds (and vice versa)?? And the harder it is to break bonds, the more stable a molecule is? And is “stable” basically just the opposite of reactive?