dealing w/ stress

Stress is very bad for us. For a detailed look see one of my all-time favorite books: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky. (Yeah, I could link to the Amazon entry and maybe get some money, but it's not worth the time right now).

My dad gave me a copy of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff (and it's all small stuff) years ago. I didn't finish it, and I'm more than a little skeptical of the entire self-help industry, but I find the attitude quite useful. Reminding me that very few of my troubles are of huge significance in the larger picture is somehow comforting for me. Even if I flunk out of grad school it's not the end of the world, and knowing that allows me to not become paralyzed by fear and thereby reduces the likelihood that I will flunk out. If that makes any sense.

The start of my spring semester of my 3rd year of undergrad I'd just returned from five months in Ecuador and had two weeks to crank out my application for the Truman scholarship--which needed plenty of revision and seemed to consume my every waking hour. I kept reminding myself "you can't take it with you when you die." Somehow that kept me sane(ish) and probably improved the quality of the application too.

Trying to rekindle the attitude that whatever happens it'll all be OK. It requires faith.