The posts on this blog are put as Either/Or questions. Many are judgments so they seem good or bad. The reality in most instances are Shades of Gray, at least! In our very complex world things are not simply lineare. Today we can see AND CONSIDER rainbows of possibilities. Complex and confusing and more importantly - STRESSFUL
We all feel stress. There is the stress of earning a living and having a family and raising children and worrying about health and having compassion for strangers who are hurt. There is the original stress of being born and then growing up in a changing world. We may stress about climate change and the future, generally. Dealing, or healing from all the many forms of stress is in itself stressful.
Stress's are both positive and negative. Celebrating birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, new and better jobs, changes in where we live, vacations, and even just awakening each morning are all since they carry the seeds of possible doom within those positive events. Death, divorce, unemployment, homelessness, etc... may happen to any of us.
A key way to respond to stress is to narrow our perspectives. Focus our concerns. Eliminate things we cannot effect. We grow up learning this when we identify colors by certain names or feel crowds iu cities are exciting as distinct from joy in the quiet woods. We may like or dislike broccoli depending on how and who introduced us to it. Our musical and other tastes in the arts are molded by our experiences and our age.
Another way we respond to stress is we find people and/or things to include in our Lives to help us with the stress, to support us in our times of difficulties and to support us in our times of joy, too. Generally, we can all us all the help we can get. When we focus on a musician we enjoy going to a concert where hundreds/thousands of people are also enthusiastic about that person. When we focus on our spirit (or not) we do that in our churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, etc. Even when we do things solo we connect with things such as the great mountain or sky or ocean AND we know others appreciate such, too.
The two ways to respond to stress noted above are distinct as one is individualistic and one is group-based social. The individualist does develop out of some group and is considered most free while the socially oriented responders consist of individuals who in the group may be less free as the individual wants and needs the support of the group.
Remember: stress is everything new and changing. Stress is also everything being old and stable. All life is stress. All life is change. It may seem the opposite of stress is stability and then reality shows us all things change. We are young and then we are old. A car is new and it gets old. Fast music is fun and later mellow music feels good. Bright colors thrill us in museums and black and white photographs gives us pleasant feelings of nostalgia.
How we respond to stress as Americans is wonderful when we are All-Americans! We Americans cherish our individual freedoms and then when Americans face a great challenge American come together. Brave soldiers have buddy system and loyalty to their units. Doctors have the support of hospitals. Teachers are supported in schools with laboratories and gymnasiums and auditoriums for music and drama. Even home-schoolers have the support of prepared curriculums and gatherings of others doing home-schooling. We are all in THIS together and as individuals.
I thing all above is actually simple truisms... WHICH WE NEED TO REMEMBER. Stress is real, sometimes difficult, sometimes a blessing... and we will respond as individuals within our groups. The balance will be different from time to time and sometimes the balance will not be as good as we might like. Remember - things change. REMEMBER - Be American.
© Ken Firestein - 2020
We all feel stress. There is the stress of earning a living and having a family and raising children and worrying about health and having compassion for strangers who are hurt. There is the original stress of being born and then growing up in a changing world. We may stress about climate change and the future, generally. Dealing, or healing from all the many forms of stress is in itself stressful.
Stress's are both positive and negative. Celebrating birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, new and better jobs, changes in where we live, vacations, and even just awakening each morning are all since they carry the seeds of possible doom within those positive events. Death, divorce, unemployment, homelessness, etc... may happen to any of us.
A key way to respond to stress is to narrow our perspectives. Focus our concerns. Eliminate things we cannot effect. We grow up learning this when we identify colors by certain names or feel crowds iu cities are exciting as distinct from joy in the quiet woods. We may like or dislike broccoli depending on how and who introduced us to it. Our musical and other tastes in the arts are molded by our experiences and our age.
Another way we respond to stress is we find people and/or things to include in our Lives to help us with the stress, to support us in our times of difficulties and to support us in our times of joy, too. Generally, we can all us all the help we can get. When we focus on a musician we enjoy going to a concert where hundreds/thousands of people are also enthusiastic about that person. When we focus on our spirit (or not) we do that in our churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, etc. Even when we do things solo we connect with things such as the great mountain or sky or ocean AND we know others appreciate such, too.
The two ways to respond to stress noted above are distinct as one is individualistic and one is group-based social. The individualist does develop out of some group and is considered most free while the socially oriented responders consist of individuals who in the group may be less free as the individual wants and needs the support of the group.
Remember: stress is everything new and changing. Stress is also everything being old and stable. All life is stress. All life is change. It may seem the opposite of stress is stability and then reality shows us all things change. We are young and then we are old. A car is new and it gets old. Fast music is fun and later mellow music feels good. Bright colors thrill us in museums and black and white photographs gives us pleasant feelings of nostalgia.
How we respond to stress as Americans is wonderful when we are All-Americans! We Americans cherish our individual freedoms and then when Americans face a great challenge American come together. Brave soldiers have buddy system and loyalty to their units. Doctors have the support of hospitals. Teachers are supported in schools with laboratories and gymnasiums and auditoriums for music and drama. Even home-schoolers have the support of prepared curriculums and gatherings of others doing home-schooling. We are all in THIS together and as individuals.
I thing all above is actually simple truisms... WHICH WE NEED TO REMEMBER. Stress is real, sometimes difficult, sometimes a blessing... and we will respond as individuals within our groups. The balance will be different from time to time and sometimes the balance will not be as good as we might like. Remember - things change. REMEMBER - Be American.
© Ken Firestein - 2020
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