It is unfortunate that we as a culture focus almost totally on surviving stressful situations. This can be seen as a natural reaction since without survival there is nothing. But the unfortunate side effect is that we forget that the stressful experience will become an experience â?? something to be remembered. What kind of memories can we create if we are fixated on surviving?
What, you may ask, should we be doing instead? I think that we should approach stressful experiences with a smile and the knowledge that this will become a defining moment in our lives. Ordinary mundane episodes in a life are quickly forgotten but the stressful situations live with us, they receive a disproportionate segment of our minds and self-image. Disproportionate in the sense of time since, in general, most of life is mundane while stress is short lived.
In order to change this I am going to make an effort to enjoy my defence. The stress of being interrogated, question, probed and queried is to be put aside. In its place I will view this as an enjoyable experience, albeit an exciting one, but still an enjoyable one. Instead of seeing this as dental surgery â?? all pain and discomfort, I choose to understand the PhD defence as a trip to the amusement park. Wild and frightening rides designed to get the adrenalin flowing but remaining within the realm of amusement.