Is it Necessary to Stress about Anything

Marin Angel Lazarov

Is it necessary to stress about anything?

And if so, how should one do it correctly? This is a very ancient topic related to the understanding of happiness. Does it exist in stress? Or, on the contrary, does stress kill any well-being?

Unfortunately or fortunately, there is no single answer for everyone.

Because, as numerous studies show, there are many sources of happiness, and for some people they are associated with overcoming difficulties, fighting for justice and achieving goals, while for others, peace of mind and unlimited time to immerse themselves in the world of ideas and regular encounters with beauty are enough.

However, we all stress ourselves out! Regardless of personal preferences! !

Because we exist not in an ideal world, but in the real world. And in it there is everything: activity and passivity, stress and relaxation, ebbs and flows.

The question is not whether to stress or not. It is important to understand what kind of stress is productive for us personally and what kind is pointless.

There is a famous quote by Nietzsche:

‘He who has a reason to live can endure any how.’

That is, if we manage to understand the meaning of our stress, we will be very close to the answer as to how useful and necessary it is in our lives.

How can we do this?

Step 1.

First, make a list of all your stresses. For any period of time: a day, a week, a month.

Then introduce two concepts and define their criteria:

1. Meaningful stress.

My signs of ‘useful stress’ are as follows, but you can adapt them to your needs.

It brings satisfaction from the process and/or result.

is associated with positive emotions during the process or upon achieving the result: joy, pride, a surge of strength, the desire to move forward, etc.;

is useful for personal development, the next step in your career, relationships, business, any project, life in general;

is useful for society, the world, if you consider such a perspective in your actions.

2. Meaningless tension.

Again, these are my criteria, and they are conditional; you can change them at your discretion:

it takes away energy, literally takes away strength, leads to physical or emotional health problems;

it causes irritation, disappointment, feelings of resentment, guilt, etc.;

it leads to a dead end, does not contribute to further advancement either personally or professionally;

it satisfies the ambitions of other people and their organisations, whose goals are far from your personal ideas of what is beautiful.

Think about it and assign all your stresses to either the first group or the second group.

When and if you are ready, move on to the next step.

Step 2.

Now that you know which stresses make sense to you and which do not, you can:

Give up meaningless, harmful stresses by minimising the actions associated with them. Gradually limit these activities and observe what happens next. Sudden changes can have the opposite effect and lead to feelings of guilt. So it’s better to take a measured approach. You will probably notice that you have more time and space for something more productive… and that’s wonderful.

Focus on useful stress that is meaningful to you. Expand the relevant activities. Observe what they bring you. Track your level of satisfaction. Euphoria is also possible here, which sometimes blinds you and leads to another dead end of meaningless stress and its uselessness. So pay regular attention to reflection, periodically returning to the first step of this practice.

If you found my thoughts and mini-practices useful, write about your experience in the comments to this text.

Marin Angel Lazarov