It seems that everyone is stressed out. Even children talk about being stressed. The incidence of stress in America and Western Europe is more pervasive than most common maladies. I am surprised that governments have not issued Stress Alerts. A generation that invented multi-tasking as an act of cultural pride is now swamped by an epidemic of anxiety, irritability, and debilitating hyperactivity that wears us out from the inside. We soldier on, accepting our lot as the price we pay for progress and the good life – not human beings but human doings.
Stress in Today’s Society
I know about stress both from personal experience and extensive scientific professional observation.
- Stress is a real phenomenon; it is not imagined.
- Stress is not a mystery; everyone knows why they are stressed and what to do about it.
- Stress will do you in; even if you exercise regularly and eat a really, really good diet.
- Stress is an essential part of our economic system; if you are not stressed out you are probably a communist.
The reality of stress lies in the definition. Stress is what happens when you expose a structure or organism to pressures it is not made to withstand. Simple, isn’t it?
When we attempt to make our body, mind, or spirit do things that we are not designed to do, we experience a traumatic result. Our system rebels, and we feel as if we might either implode or explode.
