Stress and the Modern Adult

stress: n (stres)
-physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension
-a situation, occurrence, or factor causing this

excerpted from Webster's

My $0.02 worth

OK, so what does it take to deal with stress in these oh so stressful times we find ourselves encumbered by? Why does stress seem to enter our lives on a seemingly moment by moment occasion? What is it that makes us think that these occurences are so stressful anyway? Is it the fact that life, as it turns out, is NOT the proverbial bowl of cherries? Is that what ticks us off about stress? Is it invasion of our solitude and interruption of lifestyle? Is stress simply a misunderstanding of a given situation with frustration and ensuing emotions the method of dealing with it? Maybe it's a way of handling the diabolical self loathing we have for lack of time management which results in unfinished business. Or perhaps it is just a way of allowing us to get angry at the things we are not SUPPOSED to get angry at. Whatever stress is and how it manifests itself is different for everyone, that's a given.

On a personal level, I can understand being stressed if you are unsure of the outcome of certain things like, say, waiting to discover whether you are or are not going to get the death penalty. Now THAT would be stressful. I observe those around me and realize that stress does indeed come in all shapes, sizes and magnitudes. But.......why? Why worry about something you can't change? Most of all why worry and get "stressed" about those events which have no long term bearing on that which, again, we cannot change. If stress is leading to depression and forcing oneself to hide under the blankets then there must have certainly been events which led up to the cowering beneath a pillow which, by the way, really offers no protection at all from the stress gremlins. The prelude to most situations involving stress seems to be the mismanagement of time, resources and most of all planning. Lets say the report I had to get out to that important client is going to be late. Why is it going to be late? Because I wasn't given enough time to colour in the pie charts? BAH! I should have condensed the part extolling my personal virtues and got right to work to save some time, oh...and instead of interrupting my spreadsheet production I should have taken the garbage out last night while I was watching the least stressed cartoon family on television, Homer and his crew. If we stick to the facts we can avoid stress. In my humble opinion, stress is also compounded by emotion. I know what some of you are thinking but no, stress is not an emotion, neither is stressed. Emotion gets in the way of seeing things clearly and is a cause of, well.....stress. Anger clouds the ability to hear and see things for what they really are. Sorrow through self pity masks the fact that we have to get on with what has to be done. As the sporting giant says "Just Do It". Seems reasonable. There will be plenty of time for emotion when a situation is resolved, the great thing is that the emotions after the fact are 'feel good' emotions. I am not saying that emotions are a bad thing, I just think that they have their place and using them wisely helps us to avoid compounding stressful situations.

I like to fish, ride motorized vehicles of varying sorts, fix stuff even if it doesn't really need fixing, watch a little TV, ummmmmmmm well, I could go on but you get the picture. The key words there are "I like". How often does stress get in the way of doing the things we LIKE to do? Way too often in my opinion. The lawn mower won't get fixed any faster if I have to retrieve the hammer from the roof of the house where I threw it due to anger from stress. I am sure the dust bunnies under the bed are not going to eat my mattress while we are away for the weekend so why vacuum the carpet while everyone else is sitting in the car in 90 degree heat? Hey, the neighbour is going to collect the newspaper, the doors are locked lets go do something we LIKE to do. Don't get stressed and try to justify it by doing something we don't like to do. Feeling good doesn't have to be payment for feeling stressed. Oops! Stress is not an emotion remember?

I am rambling now but I am not going to stress about it. I will just do something about it then go somewhere and feel good, doing something I like.

In the immortal words of author Richard Carlson:

Don't sweat the small stuff!