I was asked to add humour to this essay to make it more lighthearted, does anyone have any idea how i can do this?
“Live in the moment”
At least once in everyone’s life they will probably have been given the advice to “not think about it right now”, to “worry about that later” or to “live in the moment”. This could be good advice, as it’s possible to argue that if we as humans did live in the moment our lives would be virtually stress free and therefore much happier.
All of us get stressed out from time to time and the most common two reasons for this are because we are worried about something that has happened in the past, or that we think will happen in the future. Events from the past that plague us are often things like the death of a loved one, an argument or break up with a friend or partner, or even something like the failure of a test at school. We blame ourselves for these events despite the fact that they are usually beyond our control (even if we could conceivably have revised more for the test). Obsessing about over analysing these things is often what leads to stress and has an impact on our happiness.
The future is just as troubling as the past to us worriesome humans, especially in the current economic climate. Thoughts about money are one of the most common tormentors of the nation. These days people constantly ask themselves questions and cause themselves more stress than is necessary: Will I still be able to have a comfortable standard of living this time next year? Will I still have a job and a home? Will I be able to afford to buy my child a birthday present? A Christmas present? Even more trivial thoughts are fixated upon; what will I wear tomorrow? Will I get in trouble for forgetting my homework?, Will I be invited to that next big party? We spend hours being distracted from what is happening in the moment because we are because we are worrying about what will happen in the future, and as a result of this we miss out on what is happening in the present.
Over analysing anxieties about what has happened and what potentially could happen is debatably unhealthy. If we allow it, memories of the past can consume our minds and could possibly stunt our emotional growth and wellbeing if we’re unwilling to let go of the things that have happened to us. Similarly, concerns of what will happen in the future worry us so much that it could hinder the extent of our growth as a person as we’re unwilling to take risks because we can’t suppress the worries of what the consequences of the risk might be.
However, I personally think that although many say living in the moment and not thinking about past and future fears is a good thing, I believe that there needs to be a balance. Experiences we’ve had in the past can positively influence future decisions and help us to grow and mature. In order to learn, we need to be able to consider and reflect on past events, how these impacted on others and on ourselves. It is not helpful to overanalyse and fixate on things we no longer have control over, as they are in the past, but we need to consider and learn from past mistakes to help us to grow and mature.
The root of our unhappiness due to stress stems back to how we deal with the bad memories, mistakes, and indeed regrets from the past that we can’t get out of our heads and that cause us endless anxiety mainly because, without a time machine, we have no control to change them. Negative and positive experiences are helpful in different ways: if we worry too much about what may happen we might become so averse to risk taking that we end up, living a very safe and isolated life.
An experience I have had, and I expect many people will have had, is when you argue with someone. Subsequent to the argument you will probably be teeming with thoughts about the clever things you realised you should have said, but by then of course it’s too late, or you will have vast regrets about the things that you did say when caught up in the heat of the moment and never really meant. All this anguish, whether its regret for what you said, or regret for what you didn’t, dies down after a few days. Until the time comes to see that person again, whether it’s at school, work or a social gathering, it’s irrelevant, all the feelings come rushing back and you find yourself analysing every single little detail of the encounter. If you want to make the impression that you’re not really affected by the conflict, then you feel your appearance should reflect that, so what do you wear? If you were the one who was in the wrong and have realised it, then should you apologise? Should you call them or make some effort to fix things between the two of you before the encounter? Worry after worry after worry and it all results in you being very stressed and panicked. All of this is because the last time you came across this person you had a bad experience, and that makes you anxious.
The encounter itself I expect is d
“Live in the moment”
At least once in everyone’s life they will probably have been given the advice to “not think about it right now”, to “worry about that later” or to “live in the moment”. This could be good advice, as it’s possible to argue that if we as humans did live in the moment our lives would be virtually stress free and therefore much happier.
All of us get stressed out from time to time and the most common two reasons for this are because we are worried about something that has happened in the past, or that we think will happen in the future. Events from the past that plague us are often things like the death of a loved one, an argument or break up with a friend or partner, or even something like the failure of a test at school. We blame ourselves for these events despite the fact that they are usually beyond our control (even if we could conceivably have revised more for the test). Obsessing about over analysing these things is often what leads to stress and has an impact on our happiness.
The future is just as troubling as the past to us worriesome humans, especially in the current economic climate. Thoughts about money are one of the most common tormentors of the nation. These days people constantly ask themselves questions and cause themselves more stress than is necessary: Will I still be able to have a comfortable standard of living this time next year? Will I still have a job and a home? Will I be able to afford to buy my child a birthday present? A Christmas present? Even more trivial thoughts are fixated upon; what will I wear tomorrow? Will I get in trouble for forgetting my homework?, Will I be invited to that next big party? We spend hours being distracted from what is happening in the moment because we are because we are worrying about what will happen in the future, and as a result of this we miss out on what is happening in the present.
Over analysing anxieties about what has happened and what potentially could happen is debatably unhealthy. If we allow it, memories of the past can consume our minds and could possibly stunt our emotional growth and wellbeing if we’re unwilling to let go of the things that have happened to us. Similarly, concerns of what will happen in the future worry us so much that it could hinder the extent of our growth as a person as we’re unwilling to take risks because we can’t suppress the worries of what the consequences of the risk might be.
However, I personally think that although many say living in the moment and not thinking about past and future fears is a good thing, I believe that there needs to be a balance. Experiences we’ve had in the past can positively influence future decisions and help us to grow and mature. In order to learn, we need to be able to consider and reflect on past events, how these impacted on others and on ourselves. It is not helpful to overanalyse and fixate on things we no longer have control over, as they are in the past, but we need to consider and learn from past mistakes to help us to grow and mature.
The root of our unhappiness due to stress stems back to how we deal with the bad memories, mistakes, and indeed regrets from the past that we can’t get out of our heads and that cause us endless anxiety mainly because, without a time machine, we have no control to change them. Negative and positive experiences are helpful in different ways: if we worry too much about what may happen we might become so averse to risk taking that we end up, living a very safe and isolated life.
An experience I have had, and I expect many people will have had, is when you argue with someone. Subsequent to the argument you will probably be teeming with thoughts about the clever things you realised you should have said, but by then of course it’s too late, or you will have vast regrets about the things that you did say when caught up in the heat of the moment and never really meant. All this anguish, whether its regret for what you said, or regret for what you didn’t, dies down after a few days. Until the time comes to see that person again, whether it’s at school, work or a social gathering, it’s irrelevant, all the feelings come rushing back and you find yourself analysing every single little detail of the encounter. If you want to make the impression that you’re not really affected by the conflict, then you feel your appearance should reflect that, so what do you wear? If you were the one who was in the wrong and have realised it, then should you apologise? Should you call them or make some effort to fix things between the two of you before the encounter? Worry after worry after worry and it all results in you being very stressed and panicked. All of this is because the last time you came across this person you had a bad experience, and that makes you anxious.
The encounter itself I expect is d