Tsunami of our Lives...

After yesterday's post (see previous post), I got stuck thinking about the subject of "STRESS." You know, stress, long-term and short-term, may lead to all kinds of maladies and diseases, but at the same time isn't stress basically just an element we live in, and with, an element sort of like the "air we breathe?" 

Think of our first moments on the planet, freshly out of the womb, that birthing thing is quite the stressor, for mother and baby. And then, well, it's a wild ride from then on.

I had to check in with National Institute of Mental Health: What is Stress?

"Stress is how the brain and body respond to any demand. Any type of challenge—such as performance at work or school, a significant life change, or a traumatic event—can be stressful.Stress can affect your health. It is important to pay attention to how you deal with minor and major stressors, so you know when to seek help."

Right. So our job, if we have one, is not necessarily to avoid stress, but how to manage it!

It's easy to be a happy Swami on the Mountaintop, contemplating your navel, but how about finding the calm center in the middle of the Tsunami of our Lives?

I realize most of my life, I have gravitated towards "stress-reducing" activities. But sometimes you first have to do the stressful thing, for instance, get up on-stage in front of a crowd of strangers, or even friends and speak, or recite a monologue, or sing a song you wrote all by yourself. That is fucking stressful, Dear Pilgrim. BUT, if you do it, if you challenge yourself, you do a hard thing, and you get thru it, oh man, it can be pure pleasure, fun, inspiring, rewarding.

The stress vanishes into thin air. Suddenly that very stressful activity pays off in silver dollars of love and inspiration. 

I have found I have a few favorite stress-reducers: a walk on the lakefront, a bicycle ride, playing my guitar, listening to, and playing  music with other folks, meditation, drum circle, a good meal, a great conversation, a good movie or book, going to an art show,  chores like washing dishes or the kitchen floor, kicking down the cobblestones. Filling my life up with life-affirming shit. That's the good life.