What happens to the body after a hearty stress response?
It depends on who you are. As you recover from a fight-or-flight response and you’re going back to baseline, you may need a second to recover. Unfortunately, sometimes life doesn’t afford us this window, and we’ve got to keep trucking along.
Many among us are feeling relief at this present moment, and thank God for it. With the US elections over, there’s one less thing to worry about. However, the US government is far from perfect, the pandemic is getting worse, and also, as fall term comes to a close, finals abound. You put one thing down, but you’re still juggling 50 others. It can feel like there’s hardly a chance to take a breath.
Prolonged stress is bad for us. It is detrimental and can have long-term effects, effects that we worry about that then add to the stress. Anxiety, like depression, is profoundly and dangerously self-sustaining.
When it feels like the punches keep coming and rest is not at hand, two options come to mind. The first is involuntary rest. The body shuts down and goes on strike, cursing us out as it rebels.
The second is additive. When we can’t escape, even if we do have support, we find little reliefs and little boosts to keep us afloat until we make it to shore.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) once said, as narrated by at-Tirmidhi, “Do not treat any good deed lightly. It is part of good manners to receive your brother or friend warmly. The same holds true for doing them a favour, no matter how small it might be.”
Against the gravity of the world, it can be easy to diminish any good we see – in the world, in others, and most especially in ourselves. “Sure, I got one thing done, but there’s so much more to do.” Or, “yeah, I made someone smile, but I didn’t fix their problems.” Critical thinkers everywhere are great at using this skill to torture themselves, and not all of this impulse is bad. We yearn to progress, so we look for how to make the present better. However, so many of us easily pass the point where criticism is constructive or helpful in the slightest.
You may not have time to celebrate a good thing but recognize it as good. Sit with is for a second without trying to bury it. It doesn’t outshine the grime of the world, but it deserves recognition too, for its sake and for your own.
Iman Jafri
Associate Chaplain for Muslim and Interfaith Life