Psychosomatics, or Too Much Fried Food?
Recently I’ve been doing a bit too much worrying about things - mostly about conditions I cannot change. All this stress is starting to manifest itself in poor health - both physical and mental. I know I’m not the only one. What is it about our society that we make so many problems for ourselves just to scrape up a halfway decent living?
Since I’ve resigned myself to the fact that the factors that aggravate my stress are not going to go away, I’ve decided that I need to stop taking them all so damned personally. The things I cannot change are exactly that. I find that there is one sentence that helps me to center on that idea: “This is the way it is.” That’s it. “This is the way it is.” It’s so simple, but it makes a lot of sense.
The way things are is the way things are. It cannot be otherwise. I find I get caught in this wishing that things were different. “I wish I were making more money.” “I wish my boss wasn’t so hopelessly clueless.” “I wish I didn’t have so many bills.” I get really lost in the way things “should be”, without making the best of what actually is - right here and now, right in this moment. So, I’ve been trying to bear in mind that this is the way it is, and that it’s really alright.
So I’ve been looking for my Happy Place™; the conditions that make me happy and help me to feel calm. So I’ve been doing a lot of laughing over the last couple of days. I watch Monty Python’s Flying Circus on DVD over and over. I’ve been reading science-fiction and playing video games. I think it may be working. Today at work, I was actually mostly pleasant, and completely unbothered by the typical incompetence (real and perceived) that normally gets me so upset.
I usually try to keep this site free of personal baggage, as I’m sure it’s not terribly entertaining, and I much prefer to write about things I find humorous or interesting. But I thought that maybe some of you might take a moment to find your Happy Place™ before you all develop an ulcer or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Best of luck in that.
Bye for now.