internally for the truth and the things which matter and reject all opposing negativity. Through Socrates we can achieve self-confidence which is in no way linked to what others think of us. Naturally it is not advised to wander around in the condition he did, but what this extreme example shows us is to look deep into ourselves towards the things which really matter. It's a question of self-analysis, free from the thoughts of what others think of us, all that it requires is for us to be brave and follow our own instincts.

* Can philosophy really help?

It is thought that just a basic understanding of philosophy and psychology can help us as individuals to get to the root causes of stress. We need not take it further than that but a basic understanding can help dramatically. Philosophy is often thought of as "airy fairy" or pointless questioning, but it can be a vast practical benefit to all of us. One example is by taking some elements from the Buddhist philosophy.

* What can Buddhism teach?

Buddhists follow four noble truths which help them reject stresses and anxieties. Now you don't have to be a Buddhist to learn from some of the methods which they use, Buddhism is after all a philosophy and it is to the state of mind that we are learning to develop.

Buddhists follow the understanding that all life is suffering, and that suffering is a result of attachment, and it is through letting go of such attachment that true happiness and enlightenment can be achieved. Now what we are interested in is eliminating stress, stress is partly caused by worry over status, which is linked to our place in the social system. By attaching such artificial things to our daily lives we also attach the very things which cause us stress. This is one of the reasons why money can't buy you happiness, because the objects we buy with our hard-worked for money become things of attachment and a source of stress.

With this in mind therefore higher paid jobs bring with it more responsibilities and therefore more attachments, resulting in more anxieties and stress. A greater amount of money, with this reasoning, causes a greater amount of stress, but rather than celebrating what we have, we punish ourselves for what we have not, believing more will make us happy. This is also not helped by the bombardment of the modern media who try to trick us into buying items that will make us happy, when the reality is quite the opposite, and we are left in a vicious circle of stress and anxiety.

Taking a short break or holiday can get rid of stress in the short-term but to achieve a stress free life requires a little more thought and action. A stress free life can only ever be found through self-realisation, similar to that of Socrates, and nobody can ever, or should never, be able to make us worry about our place in the world. Master these principles, and more like it, and we can eliminate stress forever, making our own world a much happier place to be.

Learn more about this author, John Gray.
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