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Look closer at the stress in your own life and you can identify that negative emotions are always built on counterfactual statements.

Andrew Bernstein

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Andrew Bernstein
Age: 65
Born: 1959
Born: June 6
Author
Philosopher
University Teacher
Emotion
Stressors
Look
Identify
Looks
Closer
Always
Statements
Life
Stress
Emotions
Negative
Built

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You might think that shifting your thoughts is as easy as setting your mind to it. But stressful thoughts aren't held in place through choice or will power. They're held in place through perceived truth value.
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Even in this secular country, the threat posed by religious fundamentalists is never very far away. Every major religious text exhorts the same principles - that of unyielding obedience to a supernatural being, and renunciation of the intellect and personal aspirations.
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We need to distinguish between stress and stimulation. Having deadlines, setting goals, and pushing yourself to perform at capacity are stimulating. Stress is when you're anxious, upset, or frustrated, which dramatically reduce your ability to perform.
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You can't tell yourself that your stress is produced in your head and feel better. You still need to learn how to create a change.
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Throughout history, independent minds have carried mankind forward. Whether they identified how to make fire or manufacture tools, develop rational philosophy or create man-glorifying art, pioneer scientific knowledge or invent the electric light, independent thinkers have created the goods on which human life and prosperity depend.
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Stress is not the spice of life any more than arsenic is. And without it, you won't feel bored.
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When a friend is sick, I see the situation for what it is, not what it isn't, and I offer to help as much as she wants, not as much as I want.
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Nothing is given to man on earth - struggle is built into the nature of life, and conflict is possible - the hero is the man who lets no obstacle prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen.
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To believe that your husband, wife, parents, kids, boss, job, bank account, or body is even partly responsible for your emotions, to think that there are bullets 'out there' that you have to contend with, that there are stressful life events to overcome, is to miss something vital.
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The more you worry, the more you throw off the delicate balance of hormones required for health.
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The truth is that stress doesn't come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about these circumstances.
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Negative thoughts stick around because we believe them, not because we want them or choose them.
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If you're successful and stressed out, you're succeeding in spite of your stress, not because of it.
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During the financial crisis, I worked with hundreds of executives who struggled as a result of their thoughts about job security. When their beliefs changed, so did their emotional experience - and they were then able to focus on the task at hand more effectively.
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People often say that stress is a motivator. What we're referring to when we say this is really better described as stimulation and engagement.
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Stress is the negative whirlwind of emotions that gets imposed on top of our stimulation and engagement.
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People around the world now complain about stressors everyday, and the word shows up throughout professional and lay literature. But in reality there is no such thing as a stressor. Why not? Because nothing has the inherent power to provoke stress.
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The reason humans experience so much more stress than other species isn't just because we think more, but also because we think differently.
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Some people are so used to experiencing stress that they don't remember what life was like without it.
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The less you think counterfactually, the less you experience stress. Stress, in this light, isn't a bad thing. It's simply a warning system telling you that your mind has lost touch with what's real.
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