Stress is not our natural state; tension is not something we must live with. While subjecting ourselves to stress can work favourably in achieving something that requires extraordinary effort, stress that comes into our life uninvited can be crippling.
We deceive ourselves when we think that our exposure to stress is not in our control, that it’s just something people live with, and to remove our greatest stressors would somehow make us inferior or inadequate in comparison to those who persist amidst strife.
The truth is, stress does not deserve to be in your life. You are the master of your time and your energy, and nothing can harm you when you can see through the illusions of materialism and conditioned values. What matters is the quality and enjoyment of your life at each moment, including right now.
If you put some serious thought to it, what is weighing on your mind right now? What distraction is taking you out of this moment and bringing your attention to some thought of the past or future? If we first have the courage to see through our illusions and attachments, we will soon be able to act boldly and let go of our tensions of succeeding and come to a place of rest. Once there, our real work can begin.
“You must cultivate activities that you love. You must discover work that you do, not for its utility, but for itself, whether it succeeds or not, whether you are praised for it or not, whether you are loved and rewarded for it or not, whether people know about it and are grateful to you for it or not. How many activities can you count in your life that you engage in simply because they delight you and grip your soul? Find them out, cultivate them, for they are your passport to freedom and to love.”
— Anthony de Mello