most of us have to work for a living - if you do, you probably suffer from stress related to your job
emotionally, stress is related to anxiety - and stress reactions often trigger anxiety reactions - at least in certain personality types
two seperate thoughts seem to trigger my anxiety:
the fact that i little choice but to work for a living
the self-observation that i suffer immensly from stress related to the work i am doing, regardless of what that work is
this causes anxiety about the future which exacerbates the stress which exacerbates the anxiety about the future which exacerbates the stress which exacerbates the anxiety about the future, ad infinitum . . .
this cycle is punctuated by periodic meltdowns
i have means of coping with stress, but not of eradicating it - i sometimes feel like it is slowly killing me - sometimes i feel paralyzed by it - sometimes i wonder how much longer my heart will be able to withstand it
again, anxiety
this is another one of those vicious cycles that can seize control of one’s life - sometimes destroying a person emotionally and even to some extent intellectually - through anxiety, stress can become corrosive to the intellect as well as the emotions
oftentimes i worry that i am getting stupider, like my cognitive functionality is decreasing - i feel stupider than when i started even though i know more stuff now, and i blame my anxieties for that feeling as much as i blame marijuana
I know people get tired of hearing me say things like this, but you should just get really drunk sometimes until you pass out in a strange position on your couch. Wake up and go to work with booze on your breath and just sweat through the day.
It’ll leave you feeling invigorated and confident about yourself in life, and because of this confidence, you will cease to see stress as something that could ever bring you down, it becomes less threatening.
And I’d be willing to bet that you could do your job half drunk. Most people could. Most jobs are incredibly mundane and repetitive and boring.
Once you get to the point of understanding that the things that stress you out are things that you can deal with even in a state of diminished capacity, you’ll feel alot better. I promise.
Stress is a basic fact of life. I think it can be thought of in the same way as poverty. You can be impoverished in two basic ways - by not making much money, or by spending too much. With stress, it’s either from lack of power or lack of appreciation. I know this is way oversimplified, but perhaps it’s handy in some way.
Seriously. It is a mental exercise that excels at quieting stress. Start with 5 minutes a day devoted to thinking about nothing.
You won’t succeed, but even those 5 mins will be helpful.
Do that for a week.
Next week, do 10 mins.
Then 15.
Then 20.
Then 25.
Then 30.
Then keep going with 30. After all, we are busy people. We can’t afford much more than 30 minutes. But a quick tv sitcom? We can afford to miss one of those a day!
Keep working at it. It has been scientifically demonstrated that such an approach lowers stress as measured by an MRI.
Trust me, it is better than a couple of beers. Less immediate. Less simple. But a lot more rewarding
I like to quietly sip the beer while thinking about nothing, that way if some thoughts do creep in, they’re most likely to be about the beer, and that makes me happy.
Sure. Power, meaning ability to have some control over your situation. If you can change something about your situation, why worry? Appreciation, meaning being thankful for what you’ve got. If you can’t change something about your situation, why worry? Easier said than done of course, but we do have the ability to train ourselves, whether it comes to technical job skills, learning to relate to bosses or employees in a different way etc. or creating psychological ease. Xunzian has briefly mentioned a way to train in the latter (which is arguably more universally applicable). And nothing is instant - in fact some things take a long time to change or learn to deal with. So in the meantime, stress is stress. It happens. And in the end, maybe everything is “in the meantime”. But we can still improve on how we deal with things.
I don’t think stress makes you stupider ( and I haven’t noticed any dumbing down in you). Maybe you’re exposed to bad kind of stress, or too much of it. Try changing a career/geographic venue.
don’t worry, i take most such advice with a grain of salt
i’m no stranger to the drink myself, and i’m pretty confident i’ve already reaped all the benefits there are to be reaped from alcohol consumption, so i don’t have any immediate plans to increase my intake
Xunzian: as always, i value your advice and admire your meditative discipline - as you said, thinking about nothing is not easy - but perhaps i really should start working at it . . .
