Stress Kills You Fast!
Here's How You Can 99% take out worry from your life.
In the spring of 1871, a young man named Williams Osier found himself overwhelmed with worries about everything.
He was a medical student at the Montreal General Hospital and he was so worried about passing the final exams, worried about what to do, where to go, how to build up a practice, and how to make a living.
But then something incredible happened. He read 21 words that completely transformed his life.
These words helped him become the most famous physician of his generation. He organized the world's famous John Hopkins School of Medicine. He became a royal professor of medicine at Oxford ( the highest honor that can be given to any medical man/woman in the British empire ) and when he died, it took 2 huge volumes containing 1,466 pages to tell the story of his life!
Those words were:
"Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance but to do what clearly lives at hand.” - Thomas Carlyle
Williams Osler learnt early how unnecessary it is to drag the weight of the past or future into he's now.
William Osler did …
How did Sir Williams Osier do it?
He embraced a principle called "living in the day-tight compartment.”
This means focusing on the present moment and shutting out the burdens of the past and uncertainties of the future. By doing so, he found safety, peace, and freedom from worry. Living in the present became his secret to success.
In this fast pace digital era, it is even easier to get cut up in the rush.
21 words did the trick for Sir Williams Osier in the 70s. 900+ words in this letter will definitely do you a greater good.
In this letter, I will be going down the rabbit hole almost 89% of people in the world trap themselves in:
Worry. Stress.
About the dead past or about the unborn tomorrow.
The older humans get, the tendency of worrying also increases. Worries about: bills, health, relationships, business, etc.
Our childhood carefree-ness starts to give way. We begin to get saddled with the burdens of predicting the unknown future or trying to change the dead yesterday. We forget how to stay in today, In the present moment that matters after all.
I love this line by Dale Carnegie:
''... Shut out the yesterdays which have lighted fools the way to dusty death. The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today, makes the strongest falter. Shut off the future as tightly as the past. ... The future is today. ... There is no tomorrow. The day of man's salvation is now.'‘
Worry and Stress Are Addictive.
While worrying breaks you down and leaves you unproductive and sulky towards your today. It causes mental energy waste.
When a person lives in a constant state of stress and worry, they like an addict become conditioned to the rush of the arousal stress chemical gives. They begin to use the problem and conditions in their life to reaffirm their conditioning or their addiction to that emotion.
We become so conditioned to these chemicals and like drug addicts, we need the bad job, we need the toxic relationship.
We need a difficult situation in our life to keep getting that rush of adrenaline that keeps the rush of energy coming and in a sense, people get addicted to the life they don't like.
The Science Behind Worry and Stress
Did you know that our thoughts have immense power?
Our "thinking brain," the neocortex, can make thoughts more real than anything else.
When we constantly dwell on our problems, our brain activates stress response hormones, even if the threats are only in our minds. And long-term exposure to stress can lead to illness and negatively impact our overall health.
The Magic of the Present Moment
Living in the present moment is crucial because our thoughts shape our reality. Dwelling on the past or worrying about the future only robs us of the joy and potential that lie in the present.
“For yesterday is but a dream. And tomorrow is only a vision. But today, well-lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”- Kadilasa, Indian dramatist.
So, the first and most important thing you must know about worry ( stress ) is >> It only kills you and never solve anything. And if you want to keep it out of your life then you must do one thing:
Shut the iron doors on the dead past and close the metal curtains on the unborn future. Live in your present moment - Appreciate your today.
Does this mean you shouldn't have a vision for your future and just live your life as it comes? Hell, no.
You should have a vision for your future and even ''analyze'' your past for guidance but never dwell there. You can't undo the past nor can you predict the unknown future.
There are 5 questions you should ask yourself;
Do I often postpone enjoying the present moment due to worries about the future or daydreams about an idealized future?
Do I let regrets about the past sour my experience of the present?
Do I seize each day, making the most of every opportunity?
Can I enhance my life by fully immersing myself in the present moment?
When will I start living in the present: next week, tomorrow, or even today?
You can start now to analyze your life and trace back your worries.
You can live worry free.
That's it from me today.
-Joy Usman
Dwelling on the past is indeed harmful , thanks for the post I’ve been impacted with great words