This happened to be one of the most enlightening books I
have ever read. I am ecstatic to be sharing Andrew Bernstein’s “The Myth of
Stress” with you today. From beginning to end Bernstein did a very good job at capturing
and holding my attention, while not putting me to sleep with portions that were
heavy on scientific lingo.
Bernstein’s assertion is simple yet has profound impacts. In
short he states that most stress in our daily lives comes from within and does
not originate from external forces/entities. Our boss can scream at us, our
loved ones can overburden us, but at the end of the day it is our thoughts
about these types of things that are the driving force behind the daily stress
in our lives.
I certainly agree with Bernstein’s assessment and the
examples he walks through in the book were very well put together. Working
through them myself, I actually felt like I had my therapist in front of me as
I worked from exercise to exercise.
Perhaps what is even more important is that this book had a
lasting impact on me. The exercises that I now run through in my mind when the
internal stress bubble starts to build, actually puts me in a process to
logically find empathy. It should be clear though that Bernstein, in the book,
did not advocate or condone horrendous actions such as abuse, drug use or the
like. But instead, especially in tough areas of my past, I found empathy and
love rather than hurt and anger when working through Bernstein’s exercises.
The book deals with a lot of hard hitting topics including
stressful views of life and death, weight loss and drug abuse. I found the
material to be hard hitting and really enlightening to step outside of myself
and see how I view, react and generally feel when immersed in negative and hard
pressing situations. Trust me, I would love to work through an example here,
but I think it would just spoil the fun for when you pick this book up yourself
J.
“The Myth of Stress,” is an absolute must read and it comes
with my highest recommendation!
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