It's in the news, board rooms, schools, Instagram posts, AND on our faces...STRESS is the topic of the day. I analyze my own stress, want to help others manage their stress, read about it and study it. It's exhausting!
But is stress ever a good thing? Well, ya, it sure is, we'd be crazy to think otherwise. Try winning a race or meeting a deadline or giving a speech without the 'pumping up' benefits of stress hormones.
Imagine a runner on the starting blocks of a big race. Now imagine if, in that instant, she sees the finish line, as something to get to, SEPARATE from herself, struggling toward the FUTURE. Got it? Okay now imagine that, instead, she runs the race and heads to the finish line while staying in the moment, WITH herself, happening NOW.
Go ahead and read that again, I had to. See the difference? It's subtle. The second option is in the PRESENT MOMENT which means she's not worrying about the finish line existing in her future. Her goal is still clear but it's HOW she gets there that's changed.
How much of our day involves the split between the present and the future? We still have dreams and aspirations and goals, so how do we get to our finish line and set new ones without creating more stressful suffering? Eckhart Tolle says, in his book The Power of Now, that 'living with this inner split is insane'.
It's true that goals help us to move forward and take action and enjoy life BUT we need to observe our thoughts just to check in to see if we're living in the destructive, stressful state of "I'LL BE HAPPY WHEN xyz HAPPENS." Observing our thoughts when the stress is too much may reveal this split, and just by observing, we can release some stress.
This is what Eckhart Tolle must be talking about when he says, "Stress is caused by being "here" but wanting to be "there" or being in the present but wanting to be in the future."
In all honesty sometimes I don't even want to set goals, I seem to feel like they're so big and so final. What I like to do is aim for is having forward momentum and growth. Maybe it's the same thing as a goal? I don't know.
So, let's go back to our runner for a moment. She has a lot to teach us. She's trained for the race, built up stress, and then 'BAM!', the starter pistol goes off, she explodes into a run and what's happening?
She's spending her stress. Using it up!!!
Whaaat?
Look out, this is big! The runner is releasing her stress but do we do the same? Are we addicted to stress without even knowing it or is our sense of 'normal' stress actually a little out of wack or too much? Let's practise releasing our stress. How? Here's a short list:
Try to be aware and check in to see if the stress of buzzing from one task to the next is over fueling your day and never giving you time to recharge or calm down. I know I've been there. I remember that I used to happily identify with the label 'Type A' personality, as I lived my life, but I was sick a-lot and seldom found stillness. Back then, I used to think that I would lose a part of myself in the stillness. Well, I didn't lose myself, and stillness, meditation, laughter and, enjoying life right HERE, brings me back every time.
You can start or continue meditation practise with my printable cheat sheet HERE.
"Another step on your path." from Michele
