One of the things we fear the most is stress.
One of the things we constantly worry about is bringing more stress into our lives.
One of the things we think about every day is how to reduce stress.
The result is that we connect stress with many other negative emotions and thinking about it itself is what makes things worse.
Stress alone is just a concept and it becomes real only when we give it meaning. It’s an emotion and the more attention we pay to it, the bigger the role it plays in our lives. It is a state in which we end up being only when we decide so.
So you see, it’s all an illusion. It’s all in our control. And it’s all simple.
To help you understand that, I’ve explained some basic principles of minimalism and things from our daily round that we often forget, being influenced by the society and media that tell us there is just so much stress around us.
We complicate life too much.
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~ Confucius
I’ll say something I’ve said many times before. Life is meant to be simple. We are the ones that make it complex. Because people cause problems, and thus comes stress.
Communication is easy. Or at least is supposed to be. But then man discovered lies, gossip, hints, complex words and long stories with unnecessary details. That was followed by misunderstanding, doubt, negativism and talking behind someone’s back.
All this is a sure way to ruin relationships, worsen your social life, lose friends and self-respect, and of course stress.
But you can change things. You can be honest, speak directly, share what you think by trying to help people. You can listen carefully and speak slowly and with passion. You can eliminate all the negative words from your vocabulary and stop being wordy.
This way communication will be simple, easy and pleasant. People will love your company and you will no longer feel stressed after having talked with someone.
We also tend to make other aspects of life way too complicated than they actually are. Living in general is easy. Going to school, to work, doing daily tasks, meeting people, learning new things, doing housework and every other activity is not complex. It requires us to do something, to go somewhere, or else, and what makes us stress over it is our mind.
So stop being so negative about everything. Just go with the flow, do it consciously, be excited about it. Don’t let mundane life prevent you from unleashing your true potential and living your legend.
We think too much and forget to live now.
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” ~ Buddha
We tend to overanalyze things before they have even happened. We attach great importance to insignificant things and thus make them big.
We see the problems, but instead we should see the possibilities. We pay attention to the little details and give meaning to everything people say or do. Thinking too much simply makes things worse and we end up living in a false understanding of the world around us.
We think about the past and get sad. Then we start planning our future and get worried. Eventually we end up stressing over unreal things that are far away from reality.
I suggest you relax, breathe deeply and stop analyzing every event, person, dialogue or thing in your life. Just live. Feel the freedom of emptying your mind and focusing on the present. Enjoy what is happening now.
The more things we possess, the more stressed we are.
“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” ~ William Morris
Just think about it. Having a car is supposed to be something that makes our life more comfortable. But it also brings many unwanted problems.
We may run out of fuel when we are in a hurry. Every minute it may need repairs. If more than one person of the household needs it at the same moment, that could cause arguments.
You see how this possession brings many negatives too. Now imagine having a second car and double all these worries. Not to mention that you’ll have the fear of having an accident, and the constant need to be concentrated while driving is also stressful.
It’s the same with all other objects in our home most of which are unnecessary.
Having many clothes takes time when deciding what to wear. It also makes us want to have more because at some point what we have seems far from enough.
What you need to do to simplify your life and live peacefully is to eliminate the unessential.
Give away the clothes you don’t wear, the furniture that only takes space, the books you won’t read again, the toys and so on.
I’m sure there are many things in your home that haven’t been used in the past year or are bought for a rainy day. You don’t need them.
We stress over the countless desires we have.
“Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.” ~ Lao Tzu
The more we want, the less we appreciate what we have. Desiring many things is exhausting and leads to other negative emotions like discontentment, jealousy, sadness and stress.
The problem is that we focus on what we don’t have. And according to the law of attraction, it increases.
Instead, we should concentrate on the things we possess, the people we have in our life and the many beautiful things we experience. With appreciation and gratefulness, they will increase and we will have more of what makes us happy.
Multitasking is killing us.
“The waste of life occasioned by trying to do too many things at once is appalling.” ~ Orison Marden
Doing many things at once is just not natural. We can’t handle it. We do each of them worse, and actually waste more time rather than saving some. And we think about each of them, which causes stress.
That is why we should embrace simplicity by doing one thing at a time. This way we can concentrate on it, focus, do it slowly, give our best, and perform much better. The end result will make us happy and satisfied and once we’ve finished it, we can move on to the next thing on our list.
I hope you can now admit to yourself that you are the one who brings stress into your life. You’ve also realized how that happened and what to do about it. It’s time to act then.
Also don’t forget to breathe deeply, to take your time to relax and do the things you enjoy. Take pleasure in every activity and have a positive attitude about life. And stress will no longer be a problem for you.
Does stress play a big role in your life right now? How do you deal with it?