Free from Stress

I think its safe to say that not many people will claim to lead stress free lives. In fact, I would hazard a guess that the majority of people feel over stressed, too much pressure, to much angst, and not enough happiness. There are many stressors in every day life, from the little things that build up that need our attention to the many other ways in which we are bombarded by others. Whether it is other people needing our attention, causing an aggravation, or merely being a pest, others around us can easily add stress to our lives. The key is, we don’t have to let others increase the stress we are already feeling. We all have enough in our daily lives that can cause stress, we don’t need others to add to that load. The simple fact is, once we take control, we can mitigate outside causes of stress. The more we mitigate our stress levels, the more we can experience happiness and satisfaction in our lives. Again, its all in our control, should we muster the courage and take the reins.

The Stoics had it right when dealing with others, and stress. The simple way to deal with stressors around us is similar to the way we should approach much of which comes our way in life. First, we must be able to step back, if even more a moment, and view things objectively asking ourselves if an action by someone else is within our control. We should also ask ourselves if that action or opinion of others is true of us or if it is coming from a place of angst and frustration from the other person. Either way, it doesn’t have to affect us if we don’t let it. If we get caught up in other people’s emotions and passions, they will drag us with them and add to the stress in our lives. We must simply accept what they are saying as theirs, and move on seeking to control only what we can. Once we can do this, stress becomes easier to manage and it will ultimately lead to increased happiness. This is not an easy thing to do, it takes practice, it takes patience, and it takes persistence; doing it over and over till we eventually get good at it.

I’ve always sort of had that attitude, but once I delved further into stoicism, it made me realize even more how I can be more in control of myself and my emotions and only let affect me what needs to. There is a lot in my own life that I could get stressed about, but I opt not to, not because I don’t care, but because I’ve come to realize I don’t need to stress about it. Get done what needs to get done, let others speak as they will of their own free will and either accept what they say or not, and constantly move forward in life, not letting anything in the past weigh me down. For the most part, I have been more content and have experienced more happiness and contentment than I used to. Again, this didn’t happen for me over night, but we are all works in progress and as long as we seek to improve our own lives, we will lift up those around us through our example. At least, that is the hope. So do a little something for yourself, seek to reduce the stress in your life, and increase the happiness you experience on a daily basis.