44 Stressmanagement 1 - facing the facts

stress prevention starts with facing genuine looming doom

I once wrote a book on stressmanagement. A real succes in Holland.
What do I mean by "succes"?
In the past years at least 7 persons took
me apart, each of them with the same message: "It was useful to me."
That is succes to me. I really do not know why the other 33.000
bought the book. I do not care. I care about those 7 persons and of
the sweet memory of that summer long ago, when I wrote the book.

Now my publisher issued an English translation, soon to be followed
by a Chinese one.

Last week I reread the book for the first time after several years. It
was as if I met an old friend.
Here is a paragraph I really like, because it offers the ultimate "technique"
for anyone trying to tune down unwanted stress.

Stressmanagement starts with facing the fact, i.e with facing
genuine looming doom.

" We have no absolute control over the facts. The facts are the facts, even
if means doom. I will die. You will die. The loss of a loved one. The child
that will leave us. The father who dies. The mother who becomes ill. God
leaving us. Hunger. The destruction of the earth. The fact that we are alone
within the confines of our skin.
Is happiness possible in the shadow of this doom? Peace starts by accepting
the fact of real imminent doom. Trying to avoid or fight it, makes the
suffering worse.
There is a chance of hope, of improvement. This starts after the sorrow that
follow inevitably when you are facing doom.
Perhaps hope alone is not enough. Perhaps we ultimately only find peace in
love. An old message that always remains new."