Stress Is Not Having Enough Space

There really is no more important subject in our lives than our relationship to stress. Like light, stress  has more than one quality. It is a good idea to take a look at stress and how it affects us in our lives, and to consider if we can lower our stress levels, and manage the stress we have more effectively.

We tend to use  stress as a motivational technique. Like students cramming for a test the next day, we as humans like to come to the brink of disaster, and in the stress of impending doom find the motivation to act. We find ourselves thinking about the situation all the time, not being able to sleep. It is a state of not having even space in our own mind.

Stress is feeling like we do not have enough space. Whether it be physically, as when others are pressing too close to us, or when we are given too much to do at work, it feels like there is not enough space to be. We find ourselves crowded out by the implications of the challenge. 

Miles Davis said that the key to music is the space in between the notes. This is certainly true. We are creatures of rhythm, and the strength of rhythm is in periods of emptiness punctuated by the beat. Music with too many notes is chaotic. This is true in life as well. We need the space to be still to find the inspiration to act.

Realize you have space in every day. The moments in between here and there. The moments that do not seem important actually have the gift of relaxation. In making ordinary moments important, in realizing there are no ordinary moments, we find the space to be.