Overcoming Stress Quotes

“There is also some evidence that, even if you have cancer, the level of stress you are suffering (of course, the disease is enough stress in itself) can influence the body’s ability to fight off the disease, to survive it and to tolerate the necessary treatment.”
― Tim Cantopher, Overcoming Stress: Advice for People Who Give Too Much

“I think there are three main programs that every child needs. They are: ‘Education’, ‘I’m OK’ and ‘The world is OK’. Education is obvious; you need to learn some stuff to get by in the world. But even more important, you need to learn that whatever happens, whatever you do or don’t achieve, whatever anybody says about you, you are OK, because you are you. Whatever happens, good or bad, it’ll be OK in the end, because the world is an OK place. If you learn these lessons, you have a happy life, unless you are really unlucky and suffer wave after wave of misfortune later in life. You absorb most reverses with phlegmatic acceptance, because of your happy and realistic underlying assumptions. But if you don’t, you tend to run your life as a set of threats to guard against, hostile circumstances to overcome and people to please.”
― Tim Cantopher, Overcoming Stress: Advice for People Who Give Too Much

“Personality is merely a description of behaviors and can change at any time. Sure enough, people behave the way they do for a reason, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t change the behaviors should they choose to. If they do so for long enough, they will also change the way they feel and think. For example, if an introvert wants to become more extroverted, he can if he acts in an extroverted way for long enough. He’ll need some help as he won’t know how to do it at first, and he’ll be acting, but that won’t matter in the end because of the basic psychological principle that you become the way that you act. I’ll come back to this later. The same is true for ‘type A’ people. They can change by making different choices and behaving differently; tricky at first, but easier as time goes on.”
― Tim Cantopher, Overcoming Stress: Advice for People Who Give Too Much

“How often do you hear one person in a dinner party argument say, ‘Yes, on consideration, I’m persuaded by your argument. You’ve helped me to see things differently. Thank you for helping me to become wiser.’ No, what you witness is two combatants beating each other over the head with predetermined opinions that have as little chance of shifting as those of the Reverend Ian Paisley. It’s a pity, as the fear of being shown to be wrong, or to shift one’s opinion, does a lot of harm, causes us a lot of unnecessary stress and keeps us as ignorant as a politician.”
― Tim Cantopher, Overcoming Stress: Advice for People Who Give Too Much

“It is this need to be in control, particularly of the uncontrollable, that seems to fuel stress and the illness it causes in those affected by this affliction. It’s as if life were a bus tour. This person can’t just sit back and enjoy the ride. Instead he has to leap up, push aside the driver, and take over the controls. Sadly, if you do this, you won’t experience any of the interesting scenery, because you’re so busy steering the bus. Life is a lot less interesting if you’re trying to control it all the time.”
― Tim Cantopher, Overcoming Stress: Advice for People Who Give Too Much

“I need to acknowledge the obvious: some people have such terrible and intractable adversity in their lives that there is nothing that I can write that will make things OK. I know that, but I can say this: I see far more people whose stress is at least to some degree chosen, than those for whom there are no answers. It may be worth reading on unless you are absolutely sure that your stress is 100 percent external, that you play no part in it and have no influence at all upon it. And in any case, have you really ever cared enough about yourself to think about running at a pace that you can comfortably and healthily sustain? I doubt it. If you haven’t ever given it a thought, because you don’t matter as much as others, you need the rest of this book.”
― Tim Cantopher, Overcoming Stress: Advice for People Who Give Too Much

“Maybe there’s another way. Maybe if stress is caused by unkindness and by living in the future, the answers may involve staying in the present and being kinder. To others, but even more, to ourselves.”
― Tim Cantopher, Overcoming Stress: Advice for People Who Give Too Much