Stress acts as an accelerator: it will push you either forward or backward, but you choose which direction.” ― Chelsea Erieau
Stress is a constructive challenge. Building resilience is about being prepared to handle whatever life throws at you.
Succumbing to stress is a form of mental illness.
The lesson? You need to have a strong body & mind to be prepared for the unforeseen challenges (stress) that lies ahead.
To a large extent, the thousands of pages on this site serve to remind me of what I need to know when I need it. If it helps someone else, bonus.
When I prioritize working out, it's actually a form of preventative resilience. Self care is not selfish! It's essential. My daily workouts not only keep anxiety from bubbling up, but it also builds physical strength for greater resilience against future stress. And when I prioritize my daily meditation, I am strengthening my mind against future stress.
What is stress? Stress is anticipation of the undone. It's rooted in an unrealized future. You are less likely to experience stress when you are in the present moment.
Stress is often the result of trying to do more than you want. For me, when I feel rushed, there's a presence of stress. But that rush - that sense of urgency - I don't see it as bad thing.
Stress also comes from taking on a task that is unfamiliar. Working under a deadline on something we don't yet understand is stressful.
But stress can be an indication we are growing. We feel stress as we stretch beyond our current selves. We may feel discomfort, but you can find comfort in the discomfort knowing that feeling is an indication you are living. Leave comfort for the pigs. Discomfort is where the action is.
If you are stressed right now, take a deep breath. Acknowledge the gift of life, and the fact you are breathing right now. Holding your breath can indicate that you are attempting to hold on to the past and avoiding the inevitable future.
The future is inevitable. The best thing you can do right now is prepare yourself for it, and enjoy the process of preparing. Like Sisyphus, the boulder you are pushing up the hill is the future. The rolling down the hill is the past you are preparing for. Enjoy both the climb & the descent equally! The fact that you are here to experience. To read these words is pretty miraculous. The fact that you are even alive is a trillion to one odds. You won the lottery they day you were born.
Negative stress in our life usually stems from unrealistic expectations. For yourself. For others. From your clients/customers. It occurs when an expected result isn't being produced. When an objective (goal) is defined, is it within the capabilities of the program being run?
If the outcome desired is within the capabilities of the program to support it, achieving the objectives becomes automatic. Almost effortless. You simply run the program. But when the desired result is not within the capabilities of that program, then a patch needs to be written. In computer programs, a patch is often written when the original functionality fails to produce a desired result. Rather then rewriting the entire program, a patch is applied for the users who need the extra capability.
My back pain is a high stress indicator.
For others, it's increased weight.
Don't stress over poor results, simply see them as a sign that that a patch needs to be written.
Falling short in the financial side of your life? Write a patch to generate more income, or write one to conserve spending.
Need to improve your health? Write a patch to makes your program more compatible with healthy foods or one that causes your program to run more exercises.
The good news is that most of the patches have already been written. You just need to integrate them into your program (which is where things get a little trickier).
Ask a programmer how easy it is to write patch, and they'll tell you it depends on the program and the result you seek.
Anything is possible with enough time and money, but since we are operating on a limited budget, let's dial back our expectations to fit our limited budget.
It's quicker to write a new patch. But a program that has lots of patches isn't likely going to run as fast as one that's streamlined with future patches. In fact, patches are typically only a short term solution until the next revision is complete.
My favorite example of a programmer (Dr Julian Smart) who has been hard at work on his top notch eBook building software since 2010 (when the Kindle eBook marketplace started to take off). Hundreds of thousands of users later he's still improving it. God knows how many eBooks his software is responsible for producing.
In 2010, he released Jutoh 1. Based on feedback, from 2010 until 2014, he revised it 76 times! While still releasing fixes and enhancements to Jutoh 1, he released the first working version of Jutoh 2 in 2013. In 2014, he finally stopped development on Jutoh 1 and focused all his time on updating Jutoh 2. As of this writing, Jutoh 2 was on it's 65th revision. This all from a one-man show. He listens to his users and addresses issues (I know because I made some suggestions that appeared in later versions).
What would your change log look like?
In 2015, I began keeping a daily change log. I refer to it as my Daily War Room. Almost everyday, I log notable events. I've used a few different programs, but always keep my writing in plain text markdown which allows me to access my notes on any device.
Chronic stress can cause severe health problems and, in extreme cases, death. While stress-management techniques have been shown to have a positive effect on reducing stress, they are for guidance only, and readers should take the advice of suitably qualified health professionals if they have any concerns over stress-related illnesses, or if stress is causing significant or persistent unhappiness. Health professionals should also be consulted before any major change in diet or levels of exercise.