When we are young we’re launched in a ship 

Having drive, goals and love keeps us alive. They are important for longevity. The things we care about are the things that cause stress when things aren’t working out. Some stress is unavoidable and we are forced into it. A single mother trying to make a living isn’t going to be able to avoid it.

There are different kinds of stress too. Not all is fight or flight. Each kind cause our bodies to react differently. We can have nerves before a stage performance, a test, work, and fear of losing a loved one.What they all have in common is the caring part along with fear of a disappointing outcome. The unhealthy response to stress is avoidance and fear.

Calling stress bad is wrong since it is healthy to care about people and things. Telling people to avoid it rather than face it is what is unhealthy. Our physical stress response should be embraced since it is a flag concerning something we care about. We should then look at the realities as a welcome sight with confidence in our ability to work with them.

This isn’t just positive thinking but making sure we don’t fall into a defeatist attitude. Time spent there is always wasted. The things that are worthwhile aren’t easy to get. So if we choose hard things why not enjoy the challenges along the way?

We have all had those moments where we had enough and all you could do is smile at the challenge. How dare it present itself! This is what I am talking about. No more cowering or hiding out but instead boldness while acknowledging the realities. Those of us who are aggressive and hard driving have a tough time with this. This is another reality to embrace. People with passion have to watch the extremes with more care. But having passion is one of the gifts life gives us.

Here at rational element I try to avoid using characterizations as a means to prove points. Truth is right out there for us to pick and it shouldn’t be influenced by the outside distraction of personalities. This is a passion of mine and I put a lot of time in reading and contemplating. There is a certain pleasure that comes with laying things out and gaining understanding in the same way a clean and organized home gives a certain pleasure. The pleasure is increased when others read and enjoy it the same way. Things that are intuitive yet unconventional are what I like to study.

I don’t have the belief that we all have a kind of evil going on in our minds but most of our problems exist because we have become misguided for various reasons in various areas. Sometimes it is due to bad habits formed from childhood or bad experiences. These are easily corrected by experiencing an epiphany. That kind of Aha! pleasure is what I am after both for myself and others. The last few months I have been busy with college and work yet still have kept the reading up. Here are a couple thoughts.

The book “The Upside of Stress” presents a principle that I have observed through the years, but everything in the book is backed up through scientific study. Stress is more of a mindset that is independent of the obstacles we face. Our bodies respond to our mind in stressful situations by releasing different hormones. Most of them are healthy and beneficial to us. How we look at things makes a the difference in how our body reacts. There are two approaches to stress; where it is looked at as challenge that gives us a high or where it is an imposition that makes us depressed. We have the ability to choose the response. There are different ways we can choose to respond to stress. When we ruminate on the impossibilities and ways to the avoid stress, a futility sets in. This is the unhealthy response that causes depression. But if, while approaching the same obstacle, we recognize the realities and embrace the challenge, we can get pleasure from it. We only stress about what we care about. The body will respond with butterflies, rapid heart beat and an increased awareness. These responses are healthy and have the purpose of helping us do our best. Without stress there is no meaning to life, so embracing stress gives our lives meaning. The worse response to stress according to the book is avoidance. This is where we have things we care about but avoid dealing with them because of the stress involved. It is unfortunate since with the right mindset, our stress response gives us certain healthy euphoria. Those who avoid stress end up missing the highs that life has to give and there are studies that prove it also decreases longevity in life. An example would be how many times people who retire end up in bad health.

People have different levels of passion and things they care about so we shouldn’t judge what people stress about.There are also different kinds of stress responses such as social with sweaty palms and the fight or flight response. But the correct choice on how to handle the stress is universal. We should embrace it and direct the energy to perform better. There is a lot more to this but I will keep it at that for now. Another good read is “Fast Thought and Slow Thought”. This talks about two areas in our minds; the awareness realm with its habits and premonitions and the contemplative realm with its rational and information. It is also very interesting how they interact. Until then, have a good week…

The realization didn’t come from sight 

The concept of rights has become a vague notion in our post modern world. At it’s most basic form it concerns claims a person has of ownership. This ownership can be material or simply a freedom for oneself. Ownership has to do with having authority to make decisions with your life and possessions. A free person decides what his life is going to consist of and an owner of property decides what what to do with it. Rights and justice go hand in hand.

Justice is a measure of fairness. When there is an agreement between two parties concerning freedoms or material ownership, justice means that both parties are satisfied that the agreement was kept. When making a claim, sometimes an arbitrator is needed to help the parties perceive they are getting their just due. This is one concept of rights and it is synonymous with having a claim to something. Some call this positive rights.

When we look at enumerated rights, they are an agreement between a people and their government. These are more limits than anything. There are no property claims but a claim of who has authority over specific areas of the citizen’s lives. It is necessary to have a Constitutions and Bill of Rights so our governing powers don’t make claims over areas of our lives that is outside their scope. Governing authority tend to end up thinking the citizens exist for their benefit rather than the correct view that they are servants to the people.  History shows that this encroachment only grows until a society reaches a point where reforms or outright rebellions occur to bring freedom back to the citizens. These laws are are what some call negative rights.

A famous mention of the word “rights” is in the Declaration of Independence. In a world that had classes of elites making claims of control over other peoples lives, this was a stark contrast. Breeding and class limited people from reaching their potential at that time. Kings claimed to have authority over people that was given by God. In our environment today it is difficult to comprehend limits like this. Today, people manufacture classes and limits in order to give themselves a cause. Being the champion of a cause gives honor and wealth to some. But there is a big difference between actual rights violations and perceived causes. A person having a cause can only demand a passive response, but if it is a violation of rights, a radical response is needed. This is why causes and rights have become synonymous in the modern age. Being poor amid opportunity is a sad thing and we should all take up the cause of the poor. But no one has a right to wealth, but we all have a right to earn it.

When the rain stops falling, the earth will be refreshed

While enjoying a walk in the woods

It lasts through centuries