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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download