From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
These accumulating errors can foster feelings of the world being against us, a sense of continuous misfortune, and the magnification of everyday stresses and unhappiness.
Soldiers don't get post-traumatic stress on the battlefield, they get it when they get return. When you're there, on the battlefield, life is simple. You have a mission, a purpose, a direction, and you're trying to survive. When you come home, that's when you have to reconcile your humanity with who you are.
My training as an actor prepared me for caregiving. As actors, we show up ready to explore what might happen without a clear sense of the outcome. This requires you to be nimble, flexible, and curious, qualities I had to embrace daily as a caregiver.
Similar to the 'use it or lose it' principle that applies to muscles, our brains engage in a nightly routine that stimulates thoughts and ideas not typically relied upon during the day. This built-in process keeps our thinking adaptive and nimble, fostering divergent thoughts and offering an evolutionary advantage.
Fear is like being shot out of a cannon. Imagine a car has fallen on someone I love—I get this clear, calm, intense bolt of energy. In that heightened state, I could lift the car off them (as has happened before in rare cases). Anxiety, on the other hand, is like being haunted. You never actually see what's scaring you—it's just a story in your head that never goes away.
Work is preventing us living. So many people use work to avoid deeper topics around their lives, relationships, kids and health – deeper topics that can lead to the positive choices they need to make that will make them happier.
Endurance is mind over body. It's about tapping into something within us that allows us to push further than we ever thought possible, especially at our weakest moments.
Everyone experiences some form of trauma. Many people are unaware that being bullied, constantly criticised, or neglected can also be forms of trauma. There's a growing recognition of these repeated relational injuries—being ignored or growing up in a dysfunctional family where excessive drinking or overworking occurs, neglecting one's emotional needs.