Author: ajmajor866@gmail.com

We can spend a lifetime dealing with the effects of stress in our lives, and trying to limit the damage. Modern lifestyles can have a habit of repeatedly putting stressful situations in our way; ironically though, we can sometimes be responsible for our own undoing, regardless of lifestyle and environment. As Mark Twain is famously quoted as saying:

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.

Anxiety and worry, feelings of powerlessness; these are all classic symptoms of chronic stress, and can wreak lasting havoc on health, both mind and body. It’s enough to make you think that we should all run off to live in solitude by the sea or in the mountains (pick your peaceful place and insert here).

But all that changed when I came across Kelly McGonigal’s incredible TED talk ‘How to make stress your friend’. In a brilliantly bold move, Kelly explains how we can reframe our perception of stress as the body’s preparation for the challenge; naturally raising our energy levels and boosting our feeling of courage.

If you haven’t seen it already, I would strongly recommend watching on the link above. It explains how the stress reaction is not only natural, but also helpful if we embrace it; I think that what becomes harmful to us is the anxiety that can take over if we let it, by focusing on all of the potential negative outcomes. And most often, if we try to walk away from a difficult situation, it just has a habit of following us anyway.

Interestingly, Kelly’s twin sister Jane is a game developer who, in the midst of adversity created the amazing ‘SuperBetter’ app. Her TED talk ‘The game that can give you 10 extra years of life’ is also a must-watch; an absolute game-changer.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the sea, and the mountains, and the countryside. I would strongly advocate spending as much time as possible as close to nature as circumstances allow.

But from now on, when there are difficult situations to face, perhaps we can try to let the body use it’s stress reaction in the way it was probably always intended to work; by facing up to the situation with courage and confidence, and not living the life ‘full of troubles that never happened’.

By all means, go for a walk barefoot by the sea afterwards to celebrate the victory; I’ll see you there…

Not all personal projects are the success we planned for. We can invest a great amount of time and energy in something with the highest of expectations; sometimes only to be underwhelmed or even disappointed with the results.

To make it harder, the warning signs can often start to appear early on; but dedication to the idea, or just plain stubbornness prevent us from calling a halt ‘too soon’. No one wants to be known as a quitter.

In those cases, the best to be hoped for is that you can learn something positive from the experience, and move on to the next adventure. Often this easier said than done.

On the other hand, there are those surprising projects that start off ‘cautious, but hopeful’; not certain what to expect for the outcome. Success in these cases is all the sweeter for that. Perhaps, free from the weight of over-expectation( from others and ourselves), we just have a better chance of giving our best. Who knows…?

My recent journalling experiment has been just such a project. In all honesty I doubted that I would maintain the focus needed to stick to the target of thirty days. Life is busy enough, days already too short to get everything done without adding to the list.

But sometimes a challenge turns out to be just too engaging, rewarding or even too much fun, to stop. The second month of haiku is now drawing to a close, and a new target of a year is set.

It sounds contradictory, but there’s something quite liberating about the tight constraints of the haiku form. The struggle to express an idea in such a limited number of words (you certainly can’t waffle, unlike here); the feeling of reward when it’s done.

The journalling will continue, but remain private; the haiku, on the other hand are now being posted daily, and those foolish enough to want to can see them on my ‘The Year In Haiku’ page.

Tread cautiously, and don’t overdo it; they’re probably not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’. But I’m having a great time, and by the end of the year I might even be turning out some half-decent efforts; you can only hope.