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…