{"id":52,"date":"2011-03-13T10:33:48","date_gmt":"2011-03-12T21:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/?p=52"},"modified":"2011-03-13T10:33:48","modified_gmt":"2011-03-12T21:33:48","slug":"how-to-cope-with-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/how-to-cope-with-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Cope With Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- Easy AdSense V2.99 -->\n<!-- Post[count: 1] -->\n<div class=\"ezAdsense adsense adsense-leadin\" style=\"float:right;margin:12px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-8279754544979895\";\r\n\/* self improve3 *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"2464079329\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 250;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 250;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script><\/div>\n<!-- Easy AdSense V2.99 -->\n\n<p>Stress is an illusion.   When you appreciate how stress is created, you will start to understand that, not only are you the author of your own stress but that, in actual fact, <a href='http:\/\/www.gurdy.net' target='_blank'>stress does not exist<\/a> in the real world.  And, yet, the World Health Organization is of the opinion that stress will be one of the prime killers of the 21st century.  The word \u2018stress\u2019 will not show up on death certificates, however.  There\u2019ll be heart disease, digestive disease, high blood pressure, kidney failure all up there as the usual suspects \u2013 the results of stress.  Because, even though <a href='http:\/\/www.gurdy.net' target='_blank'>stress isn\u2019t real<\/a>, its effects are very real for its sufferers.  And, yet, <a href='http:\/\/www.gurdy.net' target='_blank'>you create your own stress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For sure, each day is full of challenges.  For many, each day is an uphill struggle.  But life\u2019s pains and pleasures are just sent to try us.  And, sadly,  most of us aren\u2019t up to the task.  Why?  Because we are conditioned to dwell on the negative, to think the worst, to feel inadequate, to react.  The normal person never acts \u2013 they simply react.  And in reacting, they don\u2019t react to what is really taking place, their programmed minds react to what they perceive to be happening.  Therein lie the seeds that flourish into stress \u2013 with all its very real related problems.  Because, in reacting, we make things worse than we think they already are.<\/p>\n<p>The normal subconscious was conditioned during our formative years.  Since adolescence we\u2019ve learned little new \u2013 we simply rehash the same behaviours, the same reactions, the same mistakes.  As a consequence of our programming, we never see what\u2019s really happening \u2013 we perceive what we think is happening and react according to our programming.  And haven\u2019t you ever noticed that reaction makes a bad situation worse?<\/p>\n<p>Stress is the by-product of ineffective thinking.  Something happens \u2013 or worse, something doesn\u2019t happen but we think that it\u2019s going to happen \u2013 and, as a downside of our own subconscious perceived inadequacy, we get stressed.  You cannot control what is nothing more than an automatic chain reaction that is not based on the real world but on what\u2019s going on in your own head.  And it\u2019s the way we are \u2013 we\u2019re hard-wired that way.  To be blunt about it, our minds control us, surely it should be the other way around.  As sure a definition of lunacy as I\u2019ve ever encountered.<\/p>\n<p>So how can you break the habit of an adult lifetime?   The short answer is \u2018yes\u2019 \u2013 but you must stop paying attention to the crap that\u2019s doing your head in and you\u2019ve got to start focusing on the reality of the present moment.  In the present moment there is no stress.  In fact, in the present moment, in spite of evidence to the contrary, everything is well.  The secret to a stress-free life is found in being present in the reality of now.  This is absolutely different from subconsciously living in a childhood long past and, because you\u2019re hard-wired for self-destruction, it requires re-training.<\/p>\n<p>Psychology has established that the state of mind of happiness is inextricably linked to giving full focus to the present.  When one\u2019s breath is taken away by the beauty of a setting sun or an out-of-the-ordinary life event like the birth of a child, we experience a natural high.  You need to learn how to self-administer that natural high.  And it can be simply achieved.   First of all, you take small steps \u2013 for small steps lead to great leaps.  <\/p>\n<p>So, right now, after finishing this article, give yourself five minutes.  Sit down, close your eyes and just listen.  Do nothing else.  Just hear what you are hearing.  Don\u2019t analyse what you\u2019re hearing or what you\u2019re feeling.  Just listen.   Your mind will put up a fight \u2013 it doesn\u2019t like someone else \u2013 the real you \u2013 trying to grab the controls!   So your normal useless thoughts will try to get your energy.  Do not give in.   However, don\u2019t try to fight them, simply listen to the sounds around you. <\/p>\n<p>With a few minutes\u2019 work every day \u2013 regularly working through all your five senses \u2013 you will re-learn to focus on reality.  And, in reality, there is no stress.<\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwisdomhealthprosperity.com%2Fselfimprovementmastery%2Fhow-to-cope-with-stress%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe><div class=\"addtoany_share_save_container\"><div class=\"a2a_kit addtoany_list\"><a class=\"a2a_dd addtoany_share_save\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/share_save\"><img src=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-content\/plugins\/add-to-any\/share_save_256_24.png\" width=\"256\" height=\"24\" alt=\"Share\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\nvar a2a_config = a2a_config || {};\na2a_config.linkname=\"How To Cope With Stress\";\na2a_config.linkurl=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/how-to-cope-with-stress\/\";\na2a_config.onclick=1;\na2a_config.show_title=1;\n\/\/--><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/static.addtoany.com\/menu\/page.js\"><\/script>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stress is an illusion. When you appreciate how stress is created, you will start to understand that, not only are you the author of your own stress but that, in actual fact, stress does not exist in the real world. &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/how-to-cope-with-stress\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"addtoany_share_save_container\"><div class=\"a2a_kit addtoany_list\"><a class=\"a2a_dd addtoany_share_save\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/share_save\"><img src=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-content\/plugins\/add-to-any\/share_save_256_24.png\" width=\"256\" height=\"24\" alt=\"Share\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\na2a_config.linkname=\"How To Cope With Stress\";\na2a_config.linkurl=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/how-to-cope-with-stress\/\";\na2a.init('page');\n\/\/--><\/script>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[395,390,376,68,377,386,388,396,364,393,389,385,379,398,391,384,397,378,382,380,392,387,394,383,381],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-self-improvement","tag-adolescence","tag-bad-situation","tag-beat-stress","tag-behaviours","tag-cope-with-stress","tag-death-certificates","tag-digestive-disease","tag-downside","tag-formative-years","tag-heart-disease","tag-high-blood-pressure","tag-how-to-cope-with-stress","tag-how-to-stress","tag-illusion","tag-inadequacy","tag-kidney-failure","tag-killers","tag-no-more-stress","tag-results-of-stress","tag-stressed","tag-subconscious","tag-uphill-struggle","tag-usual-suspects","tag-word-stress","tag-world-health-organization"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}