What is Stress

I wish that by building this page entitled “What is Stress?”, I will not give a philosophical connotation to the content.I’m saying this because I can sense that the topic will force me to go there.

So what is stress? … Stress is the word setting the tone within the definition of life.

Fact:I… am a man. I have desires. I have one life to fulfill my desires. I will try to live.

Also I … represent the first significant danger in my way. So I must know me well as to not clash with my own self along the road to fulfilling my desires.

“What is stress?” is a stressful question. But the complexity of the answer to “What is stress?” decreases when begin to replacethe “what” with … the “WHO”!

And so the struggle begins… having one eye looking after my wishes, and the other watching myself, handling my life becomes a bit of a burden.

I begin to find it hard to succeed. So as years pass and I grow, I get used to all of this but I seem to not notice one thing: …that I’ve changed a little bit, and that all the pain and struggle that I have been endured had become part of me in a way.

My friend, welcome …

to the show called …

Life

I will answer the question “what is stress?” through some examples of character types.I’ve distinguished five so far.

And it goes like this:

1. They’re extremely worried – they don’t succeed (should seek doctor’s help)

2. They care – maybe they’ll succeed (the common worker)

3. They don’t care – they succeed (the lucky)

4. They don’t care – they don’t succeed – aware (the pacifists)

5. They never care – they don’t succeed – unaware (the brainless)

Generally speaking the more you’re willing to think (using your mind to make decisions and connections) the more chances you have to increase the stresslevel in your life.

But guess what, folks? Most of the times, your willful concentration and focusing don’t have the results you’d been expecting. Hasn’t it never happen to you?

Here’s a simple example:

Brill is a young dreamer. In his spare time he likes to play pool. One night, after an ordinary day at school, Brill received a phone call.

His friends invited him out. He was ready to shootsome pool at their favorite club, so he got dressed, told his parents and left to meet his pals.
Everything goes smooth, the night turns out to be quite a stress reliever. Brill got the chance to show his pool player skills by not losing one game. At the end he enjoyed it.
Two days after Brill calls his good friend to practice some more pool. They meet and they start playing. Surprisingly, Brill loses three games one after another. Being a smart kid, he blames his first failure on lack of concentration (he knows he can do better).
After the second loss his ego comes in to play. His ambition grows but so does his temper (how can he lose again?).
He is thinking…
…that by really concentrating on the game’s logic and geometry he will solve the problem. But third game is also a no win. The day ends with acquiring some stress.
How did this happen? “It’s just one of those days…” he says to himself.

Quite right young dreamer, you’re quite right.

But what is behind this expression? What answer does it hide? Brill is capable of playing quality pool but it just didn’t work for him that day. Is it because his mind was somewhere else? Or maybe something in particular bothered him during the game? … could be.

Aftermath: he begins to question his ability to play pool. When in fact he can play very well.

One thing is certain though: The only ingredient miscalculated that made this cocktail taste like plain yogurt is “focusing”. See… “how to focus?” is the million dollar question when dealing with stress.

To keep it simple and concise:

The idea is to not focus too much! Human consciousness is way less powerful than the subconscious. When you set your mind and try to accomplish a goal… your chances actually don’t increase. Shocking? Calm down… It’s not as bad as you think.

After all… it all reduces to having this ability to see things in a more relaxed way, in a more softer light (not in exhausting disco lights).

What to do?

Bring out the warm in you
(but don’t leave the cold sleeping outside! Never…)Relax!
(tough experiences can change you and traumatize you, but don’t let them kill you)Learn new things
(keep your mind involved in all kinds of actions! This can be very helpful in certain situations when you feel very disappointed or betrayed)
Stay focused when needed (but don’t exaggerate)

Try these steps and you’ll never care about “what is stress”…

Focusing holds a point of no return. When you reach the level that gets you close to accomplishing your goals, turn the steam down and relax your mind: the subconscious can be of real significant help sometimes…

What is stress? Forget it… just Don’t make it harder on yourself!

That’s it!