Permission To Think

Few things so entirely represent the power of our own minds than Stress.

While stress can refer to physical strain or auditory emphasis, the most common use of the word relates to the following definition: Importance or significance attached to a thing.

What is implied with that, and the point I’d like to stress (ha), is that the importance or significance attached to this “thing” is man made, and thus man controlled. Being that Stress is a mental occurrence with physical consequences, it stands to reason that being able to control that occurrence would be tremendously beneficial.

The good news? Controlling its occurrence is as simple as choosing not to let it happen.

Think about it. Most of the time that we experience stress, it is because we are worried. More specifically, we are worried about things that we feel like we can not control.

While we might be upset about not being in control of something in our own lives, we must also understand that allowing stress to make us sick about this fact is only adding to the problem. My favorite example regarding this has to do with being in an airport. When a flight is significantly delayed, the most common reaction to this news is stress. We worry about what time we will be home. Perhaps there were plans that relied on us being back by a certain time. All of this compounds together to “stress us out”. But my question is this: why?

We can not control that the flight is delayed. We can not control that this has caused what ever problems that it has. This is also not something we could have prevented. It is simply a fact, not open to opinion.

The trick is to accept this situation as an unfortunate fact as quickly as possible, and then carry on with your life. The only thing being stressed about it will achieve is to make you uncomfortable, unfocused, sick, and ruin your centered state of mind. It will improve nothing.

Quite simply: Stress is useless. Remove it from your life.

It’s an amazing feeling realizing who you’re meant to be, and that you’re becoming that person. For the last couple of years, I’ve been trying my best to become a better person. In some ways, I’ve still got a lot of growth left, but in others, I’m learning that life is both too short and too pointless to fret about things too much. I mean, really, what is the point in the long run?

Ironically enough, my latest step towards enlightenment came from thinking about a certain video game. For any of you that know me well enough, you’ll know that one of my room mates and some of my other friends play the game World of Warcraft. Some argue that they play it too much, which I’ll get to in a second. My biggest issue with this game is that it has no real point. In most video games, you are striving for something. You want to rid the world of evil, save the princess, finish first. And that’s when the game ends. The game ends once you’ve finished the one goal you set out to complete. World of Warcraft is not like this. There are many, many tasks, but it never ends. There is a “boss” that is the hardest to beat, but the game does not end once you beat that character. Therefore, there is no point to the game, or at least, no climax. It struck me, that Warcraft, the thing that people argue is a waste of time, is much closer to real life than any other video game out there.

Stay with me on this one.

What is the point of life? We grow up, we go to school, to go to school, to go to school, to get a job, which will likely lead to others. Then we’ll retire, and just hang out until we die. The first 4-6 years are free. Then we spend at least the next 16 in school, then another 40 or 50 working. Then we’ll have just enough time to do everything we wanted to do, but without the energy to do it. Most of us will never be rich enough to have everything we want. Life is going to be hard work. And for what reason? To buy stuff? To buy things that we think will make us happy? Well they won’t. Life is more than things. Actually, that’s incorrect to say. Life isn’t more than things because life isn’t things in the first place.

You see, if this is the mentality that you have, then you will live a life exactly like someone playing World of Warcraft. You’ll spend countless hours and countless missed opportunities for something real in the hopes of getting all the items that you want that will make you complete. But when it’s all over, you’ll wake up and realize you have nothing real to show for your work. Nothing that means anything to anyone outside of your shallow world.

So what’s left? Accepting that we’ve only got one shot at this life, and we can either make it about ourselves, or make it about each other. Either way, you must ask yourself, on your death bed, what life do you want to flash before your eyes? And what regrets are you willing to die with?

(Also, be careful that your real life doesn’t follow this path before denouncing someone’s video game life, for which is the greater loss?)

I wanted to share with you all an event that happened recently that made me smile. I was driving down Chapman Ave., on my way to work. The car in front of me started to change lanes to the right, completely oblivious of a car in the exact spot it was headed. The car honked, and the oblivious guy shot back into our lane.

At this point we had gotten ahead of the car that almost got hit, and I was thinking, oh man, when these two cars pass each other, this guy is going to flip him off big time. To my surprise, the motorist simply gave a friendly wave.

This made me really happy. This guy knew that the other car hadn’t done this on purpose. And, in fact, probably knew that we’ve all had close calls like that before, and not because we’re bad drivers, it just happens. This driver was wise enough to know that there was nothing to be gained by flipping the other guy off.

When we’re young, we’re taught forgiveness. Over time, we lose this ability, and start to hold grudges. But doing this has never helped any situation. If we can’t trust that people are ultimately good, and thus worthy of second chances, then why bother with creating friendships with anyone to begin with?

This man made me smile. His quick reaction of forgiveness gives me hope for the rest of us.