Chapter 23 on pressure

On July 3 this year, "Reference News" introduced foreign scholars' statements about pressure in a half-page space.I'm also thinking about this issue, and I can't help nagging a few words. What is "stress"?The above-mentioned article said: "Stress is the physiological and psychological response of the mind and body to internal and external events." Several characteristics are listed below, which are omitted here.I have always believed that the definition of this thing, except in the natural sciences, is impossible in the humanities and social sciences.I think the above definition is fine.

Does everyone have stress?I think, yes.We often say that life is a struggle, without pressure, where is the struggle?According to Buddhism, birth, old age, sickness, death, suffering, and suffering are stress.Kings and emperors in the past, and modern foreign dictators were lawless and did whatever they wanted, and they seemed to have no pressure at all.However, they were trembling, as if facing an enemy at all times, worried about border troubles, palace coups, and being poisoned or assassinated.They are the loneliest people in the world and more stressed than anyone.Big capitalists have too much money, and they are worried about the rise and fall of the stock market, fluctuations in real estate prices, and so on.As for the ordinary people of my generation, "every family has a difficult scripture to recite", these are all pressures, who can avoid them?

Is stress good or bad?I think it's a good thing.From a general point of view, the global environmental pollution, the destruction of ecological balance, the hole in the ozone layer, the population explosion, the emergence of new diseases, etc., people feel it. Of course, this is pressure. Isn't this a great thing?For ordinary people, laws and all other reasonable rules and regulations are pressures.But how good are these pressures!Without it, society would be in chaos and humanity would not be able to survive.This principle is extremely simple and clear, and you can understand it as soon as you say it.I use myself as an example.I am not a person who does not think about fame and fortune—I suspect that there are such people. Due to some reasons I have mentioned in the past, on the surface, I seem to be indifferent to fame and fortune, but in fact that is mostly an illusion.However, today, I have reached the ninth year of my life, and fame and fortune are of no use to me. I don't need to fight for fame in the court and for the benefit of the market. The pressure in this regard is gone.But another pressure came, mainly from radio interviews, newspapers and magazines, and friends to write articles.This puts a lot of pressure on me.As far as writing articles is concerned, there are some that I really don't want to write, but I have to do so out of face.Should be pressure.So "take the time" to think hard, and often write articles with some new ideas.To me, that's the good thing about stress.

How to eliminate the pressure?Roughly classified, there may be two types of stress sources: one passive and one active.Natural disasters and man-made disasters, accidents, are passive, this kind of pressure is unpredictable, we can only deal with it calmly, and we must not worry about it.The initiative comes from oneself, and one can make a difference.The third of my "Three No's Principles" is "don't murmur". I think that if you don't murmur when things happen, you can eliminate the pressure caused by yourself. July 8, 1998