Stress is the cluster of negative consequences resulting from the ill use of our evolutionary design.
[...] more often than not there is no correspondence between external reality and the inner experience of reality.
Perception is more than meets the eye.
The percipient subject is not a clean slate. Through past experiences and learning, she has constructed a view of the world. [...] Previous knowledge creates certain expectations or assumptions that will lead to one particular interpretation of the world.
Have you ever wondered who you really are? [...] You are not your name.
[...] you may be thinking that you're wasting your time, for what you actually want to know is how to get rid of your stress. The point is that stress is not a virus that you catch from the air. Stress is directly and specifically related to a subject, so unless you are willing to do some research into your own subjectivity and into the ways you perceive yourself and the world around you, nothing will help.
A most intriguing opening sentence in regards to the ill-use of evolutionary design...and most interesting thoughts that follow upon it. A beautifully expressed introduction to a critical topic for us all. Thank you for sharing with us dear Marta!
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear PJ. There are lots of dots to join before and after. Hopefully, some people who really would like to know what ails them when stress is mentioned will feel curious enough to seek for the answers. I already mentioned that the answers are individual, but this book shows individual ways to cope.
ReplyDeleteMy Dearest Sister,
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate to be born as a child of unrest who desired to know who she was and what she was. Admitted, this desire has taken me down some roads that for all practical purposes would not be considered pretty in life, but this desire has released stress in my life to know myself and taught me that I had to learn how to deal with me from the inside out. Thus, the Bible, and books that I read from Viktor Frankl, Erich Fromm, Martin Buber, Rollo May, Scott M Peck, Hans Selye, and Catherine Marshall have become literature that I read repeatedly. This stress released in me has caused me to continuously search and explore myself and to find positive resonances in my quest to live a life of love and a life with purpose.
So, I agree wholeheartedly with your conclusion. It has been said that the only world that mankind has refused to explore is the journey into himself. I believe that because if we were to do that, our own perception would change our relationships to others and the world would be a better place to live in.
Love you.
Shalom,
Patti
Dearest Patti,
ReplyDeleteWhat a profound comment, as usual. This book and the rest in the series bring a bibliography. Many of the authors you've read and the Bible are there.
Thank you for your continual support!
Love you too!
What depth coming from my two dear friends, Patricia and Marta. I'm trying to think of something profoundly intelligent to add but find myself without words--only feelings. I've spent my own life trying to know who the "I" in me is and I'm still in the first chapter of that book of my life. Marta,your book on handling stress, which in and of itself is neither good nor bad, rather our reaction to it--is one I definitely want to read.
ReplyDeleteLove to you both,
Micki
Micki, for someone who finds herself without words, you have been more than eloquent! I very much appreciate your comment, and the book, an original piece -in the sense that it's not "copy and paste"- could help many people if only they admitted they need it.
ReplyDeleteIt goes without saying that it's yours for the asking.
Marta's last statement here is very clear and leaves no room for argument: unless we look within for the source of our stress, nothing will help (paraphrased). Wouldn't it be interesting if that was a warning label on bottles and other packaging containing addictive products!
ReplyDeleteI approve this message.
Joyce
Dear Joyce, thank you so much for your insightful comment. I will continue to publish excerpts of the coming chapters and I count on your views. They are very valuable to me.
ReplyDeleteInsightful and thought-provoking. I look forward to further excerpts.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bryan. There will be a few for each chapter :)
DeleteMarta, your profoundness establishes the ever present need for us all to look inward in order to truly put our own stress relationships into the right perspective. All too often we look outwardly for the person or event in which to blame. Stress enters our lives in varying degrees and will always be a part of life. There is no avoidance but there are ways to intercept and perhaps even change the manner in which we perceive. To put it simply, things aren't always as they seem nor are they the same from one individualistic view to another.
ReplyDeleteDear Sharla, in the Introduction excerpts, which you can find by clicking on "Entrada antigua" at the bottom of this page, I quoted, "Nothing is what it seems," practically your very words.
DeleteThank you very much for your profound thoughts, with which I couldn't agree more. The reason why this book is entitled "Living with Stress" is precisely that we cannot get rid of it, so each individual needs to find an effective way to cope with it.
I do not believe in recipes that work for everyone, so my approach is to the individual, on the basis of personality types.
Your books sounds intriguing. I look forward to hearing more about it. It is going on my wish list. - Delinda
ReplyDeleteDelinda, I very much appreciate your interest. More coming soon :)
DeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading the excerpts from Chapter 1 of Living with Stress. I found the subject material very insightful and interesting. Stress and the perception there of is seen and experienced on an individual basis as the author points out very clearly. Marta has gone beyond the common platitudes and explored what appears on the surface to be simple and unveils the layers of the relative complexity of this subject. Marta has a true talent to see issues beyond the facade that lies on the surface.
ReplyDeleteCynthia B Ainsworthe IPPY Award-Winning Author
Cynthia, thank you so much for getting to the core of the subject. I hope you find the next fragments equally appealing.
DeleteI am entering this comment on behalf of R. L. Cherry, who was unable to get it accepted by the system:
ReplyDeleteVery true that stress is not a virus, although we can allow it to act on our bodies like one. Well said that it is up to us how we handle it. As Shakespeare wrote, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."
R L Cherry, author of Christmas Cracker
Thanks for reading this, Ron. I love your Shakespeare quote.
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