Stress Can We Control It

Author: Catherine Pulsifer, ©2009

Can we control the stress in our lives? An interesting question.

Recently, I read a thought of Marcus Aurelius,

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."

Reflection
I reflected on Marcus Aurelius words and realized how true it was. Many times, we cause ourselves stress due to the importance we give to an event or a situation.

The event, or situation, may have some impact on our lives, but when faced with a situation where you are feeling stressed ask yourself: truly how important is it?

Determine The Importance
To determine the importance of the situation ask yourself the following questions:

- is it a life threatening situation?
- is it an event that you will even think about 2-3 years down the road?

Life Threatening
It is difficult not to feel stress when you are in a life threatening situation, or those that you love, are in that situation. For sure that will have an impact on you down the road. And, this will create stress for you.

Everyday Situations
But, what I am referring to is everyday situations where we get ourselves stressed out by things that are not important. The day to day events in our lives we do have control of. And we do determine the importance we attach to it, resulting in the amount of stress we feel.

The next time you are feeling stressed, remember Marcus Aurelius's words, and remember, that you do have the power to revoke the stress you are feeling at any moment

Consider These Positive Words
"Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight." Benjamin Franklin

"If you focus on the possible when you experience difficult situations you can positively change your outlook, reduce your stress, and concentrate on achieving things that otherwise may not have been possible." Catherine Pulsifer

"When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard', I am always tempted to ask, 'compared to what'?" Sydney Harris

"Every problem has a gift for you in its hands." Richard Bach

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