Think of all the things on your to-do list. Think about it in morning traffic. You’re not even at work, but you’re already thinking about all that waits for you. What about the things on yesterday’s to-do list that you pushed to today? Then there are all the things you have to do after work, instead of doing the things you’d rather be doing. If reading this opening sounds familiar to you, this week’s show is about something you’re probably fighting: stress!
We kick it all off by discussing the first stress we remember experiencing. Then…
Stress sticks with humans. In the animal world, many animals stress in the moment of fighting or escaping and then go back to just existing. We don’t do that; the more cognizant of the world around them and the possibilities contained in that world, the more stressed animals become. Humans top that list. So…we dedicate some time to talking about what separates us from other animals.
This isn’t all about animals and other humans, though; we ask each other if we consider ourselves stressed individuals before discussing what actually stresses us out.
Then we move on to others, talking about how big we think stress of the unknown plays into a person’s current stresses. Some people seem to be stress magnets, but when looking at them, they create unnecessary stress in their lives. We devote some time to why we think some people actively create unnecessary stress in their lives before moving on to this: “How much do you think lifestyle, or want for a particular lifestyle, plays into stress?”
It’s not that we think stress is silly — it’s clearly a real thing for so many. If we lived in certain parts of the world, we’d definitely be more stressed. Fortunately, nobody is going to kick in our doors and execute us, so…we ask: what are valid stresses for those living in suburbia? After that, it’s on to talking about how much things people can’t change affect stress. And it wouldn’t be fair to close the episode out without asking how we can all defeat stress?
So settle back and breathe deeply — it’s not so bad. And…let us know what stresses you out in the comments.
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My first stressful event *should have* been when I was 7. We were living in Vancouver. One night, my mom told me we would be leaving my dad and leaving the country tomorrow. The next day, that’s what we did. I remember the announcement, but not the actual move. And even though I was more of a “daddy’s girl,” I have no recollection of stressing over the life changes, or even giving it a second thought at the time. Sometimes I still wonder about that.
CMS: I don’t think I would have had any stress during my parents’ divorce were it not for the adults around me stressing. If it had been matter-o-fact, “This is what’s happening,” and then BOOM! — Dad’s living elsewhere, I was young enough that I probably would have just assumed that’s how some things worked.
Like you, I didn’t give a second thought to it all…just assumed that was the situation and…quickly realized that when we visited my dad every other weekend, there was total attention on us. I’d guess he felt awkward, like he was providing enough for us to do until later, when he remarried, but this is what I remember about the first place he moved to: some of the best pizza I ever had, stickball in the weeds in the backyard of his new place and his roommate’s cat seeking out the ball. I remember my Dad taking us to a bank with all kinds of hills and ramps for wheelchairs and skateboarding. (His roommate, this crazy guy named Fred, totally waxed.) I remember music and movies and him reading to me. I was 5 or 6 and he gave me a tiny lathe that probably could have messed me up, but he made sure I knew how to use it.
I can remember some sadness from him, but no stress at all…just good times. And when he remarried and I got a badass stepbrother, things were even better. When they all moved to Kansas, I got a summer road trip and friends in another state. My friends back home thought that was cool…that I went away most of the summers to someplace else and returned with stories about it.
In its own way it was cool — not stressful one bit.
That’s a great story. I can see how it shaped you (or maybe you shaped it?) into something positive. 🙂