It Depends …
Second installment – Environment
Environmental stress is a global, ever-present event. Any place and the things in it, can produce stress, and depending on one’s viewpoint, can relieve it. A farmer waiting to bring in his crop, a young pilot waiting for his first flying lesson, a golfer waiting to tee off in a tournament, an adolescent taking the free throw for the final shot of the game, a commuter stuck in traffic, or a fly fisher person approaching a new stream.
Every scenario is an environment with potential stress. Remember I said potential. Feelings may range from crippling stress to no stress. The farmer may have everything under control and look forward to the labor or fear a coming storm announced on the news ten minutes ago.
The environment operates without our intervention. We have no control over a tornado, a hurricane, or drought. The environment does not care about puny mortals. Operating in its own way and at its own pace, environments hold no compassion raising up as quickly as striking down. If that is the case, how can environments reduce stress?
When a person goes to his man-cave or her she-shed environment, what happens? A sense of calm pervades his or her being. The person is in a place surrounded by things he or she appreciates and enjoys. The same can be true on a golf course, flying a plane, shooting the final basket, or standing in a stream. How the person chooses to perceive his or her surroundings produces positive or negative feeling.
Years ago, my family owned a small trailer on Lake Lanier. As I came down the gravel road, layers of stress would drop off. After I got the key, I would flip a small lock to position it to open. It made a click-clack sound that was the cue for me to fully relax. As I write this now, the feeling of calm comes back because I am picturing the event in my mind and enjoying it.
Environments can cause stress or produce great calm. Find an environment where you feel relaxed. Practice breathing in it to enhance its serenity. Produce a mind set that engenders calm and own it. Let it be your place, your calm. Relax and enjoy. Create a personal way to remember your experience.
It depends …
P.S. It is possible to rewrite negative environmental narratives to reduce their impact on emotions and eliminate past stressors that we carry and may not even remember.