Stress and relief
Iâve just had a very tense and stressful week, which was due to a combination of having a bad cough and cold and feeling rotten, and yet still having to prepare to give a research seminar at another University, whichâfor one reason or anotherâturned into a much more significant event than it would normally be.
I did the seminar yesterday. Things went fine, people seemed to enjoy my talk and my voice didnât pack up, and now I feel exhausted but exhilarated. Finally, the weight that has been pressing down on me so insistently for a week has been lifted off, and I feel very light and free. Sometimes itâs worthwhile enduring stressâif only for the fact that itâs nice when you stop (like hitting your head against a wall). In fact life would be pretty dull (comfortable, but dull) if we didnât stress ourselves at all. The challenge can be wonderful, and you get a great feeling from overcoming (or at least enduring) obstacles. The real problem comesâI supposeâwhen stress becomes chronic and inescapable.
I had a dream about the talk a few days before I was due to give it. I donât normally talk about my dreams1, but Iâll describe this one because I think it shows just how much pressure I felt myself to be under.
Good job we're not all the same!…