A few weeks ago, I walked in to see my first patient of the day.
"Good morning," I said, recognizing the young energetic man. "What's going on?"
"Hey doc, I'm so stressed that even my stress is stressed out". The young man was wringing his hands. He looked anxious.
I knew this was going to be a longer consultation than usual. "Stress" is the fashionable word in the fast moving times we live in. But I had never heard it used three times in one sentence. And it was a short sentence too! For a moment, I didn't know what to say.
"Why are you so stressed?" I asked.
"Well doc, work is busy, I have deadlines to meet. We acquired a new company, and since then the work load has tripled. I have seven year old twins........" And he went on and on and on.
After the young man had left, I started to wonder what "stress" really means.
For most people, its a monster that rears its ugly head more often when we can't or won't cope with our circumstances. The situation, for the most part, is our own creation. Occasionally, in our lives, there will be real stress because of circumstances and situations we have no control over. And it's okay to be 'stressed' at that time.
But I do think stress is the most overused word of our time. It's almost an excuse to shirk a task or responsibility. As an author famously quoted that "Stress is a socially acceptable form of mental illness!" Here's some advice to avoid stress-- Go on a no 'Nuts' diet. Avoid people who drive you 'Nuts'!
But seriously, a lot of us do believe that controlling the pace of our lives, for the most part, is in our own hands. Life puts a lot of demands on us, but there are always choices. The real test is to make choices that are in sync with what we want our life to be. An understanding of the difference between price and value, and striking a balance between wants & needs, goes a long way to reduce stress. The social fabric of our communities would be even stronger, if there was more focus on life, rather than lifestyle.
"I am so stressed out at being stressed out that I can't even remember why I'm stressed out....and it's stressing me out!" ~ Anonymous
