Two thousand years ago, a man was put to death for being kind, for speaking the truth, for refusing to bow before authority. We are certain that we know that man and what he stood for. We tell ourselves we stand on his side. We know his story and how it ends. We know who was right. But I sometimes wonder whether a greater tragedy followed his death.

Emotions are complex, subjective cognitive states that govern human behaviour and interactions. In the early stages of our evolution, before we had the vocabulary and apparatus for thought, emotions were all we had – which is why they still feel so raw and hard to process, because they predate thought. Emotions, in a sense, are just thoughts of a different kind. Think of them as proto-thoughts lent corporeality by your body. This becomes clearer when we observe how emotions actually function.

When we think of life, we think of organisms; we think of life as something characteristic of living things that distinguishes them from inanimate or dead things. Now, that is life seen as a noun. Life, when approached as a verb, is the participation of an individual living thing in a plethora of processes that make more individuals of its kind and others possible. But when we look at life in terms of lived experience, in terms of perception and choice, life can be understood as the flow of consciousness.

We are all subject to stress and, at times, too much of it in our lives. Stress, and most importantly, unhealthy amounts of it, can negatively impact our physical and emotional well-being, preventing us from living healthy, productive lives. Whether we manage to fight off stress or succumb to it depends a lot on our coping strategies. Our perceptions and insights on our stressors, which are perceived threats to our well-being, play a huge part in shaping our body’s response to stress and, in turn, determine how successful we are at dealing with stress.

Two thousand years ago, an itinerant preacher went around seeking to spread this message that the kingdom of God was at hand. This message formed the core of his teaching. Through his actions, he hoped to lead the haggard, despondent populace to this comforting truth, away from the self-perpetuating pain and misery that life on this planet had become. He wanted people to taste this heaven right here on earth. His message, however, did not catch on. This preacher’s name was Jesus Christ. Two thousand years hence, we are no closer to having understood Christ’s message.