Stress and Worry
I'm completely failing at the whole "blog each week" thing. There's not a reason for it other than my own procrastination.
But whatever.
I'm here to talk about stress and worry.
Most of the people I know would likely say that I'm a pretty chill person. That's not to say that I don't get angry or worried or upset or excited or that I don't care about things, because I do all those things. However, rarely do I stress or worry excessively. Why?
I've wondered this for a long time and asked myself the question often. I wasn't able to put it into words until just recently, while I was reading Jack Kerouac's book The Dharma Bums (a great book, by the way). One quote in particular caught my eye today as I was reading:
"the earth is a fresh planet, why worry about anything?"
Which, of course, got me thinking. In the context of eternity, out time spent on this planet is but a fraction of a second and yet, some people choose to wither and worry their lives away.
I eventually came to the conclusion as to why I worry less. Other than my typical Zen nature, I have a tendency to live with my mind in the present and solve problems as they arise, rather than focusing on the things that could be, I focus on what is. I don't try to solve problems before they rear their monstrous heads. There's no use in wasting energy solving problems that aren't guaranteed to happen. The sad part is that I know there are people that do that very thing.
After all, we live in the present, not what we perceive to be the future. It's not good for us to be living with out bodies in the present and out minds in the future. It create an imbalance of sorts, I know this firsthand. I've caught myself living my life weeks in advance in my mind and it just made me feel like crap the entire time.
Now, I'm not saying that you can completely change your thought processes overnight. Heck, I'm not even saying that you have to change at all. I'm just giving you my main reason for less stress and worry. It took me months to finally live in a considerably worry free state of mind. I feel that some of this could be attributed to contentment in whatever situation I'm in. I started working towards this state of mind last fall and only in the past few months have I felt the effects it's had.
Preparing for the future isn't a bad thing, though. I do it all the time, but I don't allow myself to become so absorbed in it that I forgot to live my life while it was happening.
So go forth, my friends, and live your lives boldly and passionately.
Peace and good times.
But whatever.
I'm here to talk about stress and worry.
Most of the people I know would likely say that I'm a pretty chill person. That's not to say that I don't get angry or worried or upset or excited or that I don't care about things, because I do all those things. However, rarely do I stress or worry excessively. Why?
I've wondered this for a long time and asked myself the question often. I wasn't able to put it into words until just recently, while I was reading Jack Kerouac's book The Dharma Bums (a great book, by the way). One quote in particular caught my eye today as I was reading:
"the earth is a fresh planet, why worry about anything?"
Which, of course, got me thinking. In the context of eternity, out time spent on this planet is but a fraction of a second and yet, some people choose to wither and worry their lives away.
I eventually came to the conclusion as to why I worry less. Other than my typical Zen nature, I have a tendency to live with my mind in the present and solve problems as they arise, rather than focusing on the things that could be, I focus on what is. I don't try to solve problems before they rear their monstrous heads. There's no use in wasting energy solving problems that aren't guaranteed to happen. The sad part is that I know there are people that do that very thing.
After all, we live in the present, not what we perceive to be the future. It's not good for us to be living with out bodies in the present and out minds in the future. It create an imbalance of sorts, I know this firsthand. I've caught myself living my life weeks in advance in my mind and it just made me feel like crap the entire time.
Now, I'm not saying that you can completely change your thought processes overnight. Heck, I'm not even saying that you have to change at all. I'm just giving you my main reason for less stress and worry. It took me months to finally live in a considerably worry free state of mind. I feel that some of this could be attributed to contentment in whatever situation I'm in. I started working towards this state of mind last fall and only in the past few months have I felt the effects it's had.
Preparing for the future isn't a bad thing, though. I do it all the time, but I don't allow myself to become so absorbed in it that I forgot to live my life while it was happening.
So go forth, my friends, and live your lives boldly and passionately.
Peace and good times.
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