ARE WE REALLY STRESSED OUT?

Selecting a new designer outfit; buying a present for a dear one; looking for matching shoes and make up items with your new dress; seeking further admission in a college or university; hunting for a new job or renovating your posh villa; admit it guys, we all go through a lot of stress daily in order to survive in this ruthless competitive world.

Stress is a very cliché term known to mankind since the era of scientific advancement and development. It has been one of the most researched areas of psychology for centuries. Several renowned psychologists like Walter Cannon and Robert Sapolsky spent their entire lives in discovering ways to cope with this fatal illness. According to a research, three-fourths of the human population undergoes stress in varying levels in a two-week period. The working population is particularly subject to emotional, physical, and mental stress. Various writers have filled numerous pages writing about the causes, symptoms and treatment of stress.

Stress is no doubt a very harmful disorder which has negative effects on our physical and mental health. People who are habitual of taking stress on petty matters generally lead a strenuous life as stress makes it difficult for them to accomplish their tasks properly. Taking unnecessary stress not only destroys our happiness but is also a grave threat to our inner peace. Stressful people are not generally liked by their peers or fellows because of their traumatic and annoying behavior towards daily life issues.

Despite numerous researches and lengthy debates on stress and its effects; I often wonder, are we facing the real stress or is it just the self-created nuisance? It is true that life is not a bed of roses and one has to deal with several tragedies and ordeals in order to survive but I am sure that our lives are not as tragic and stressful as we portray. In fact, it’s the other way round. We have made our lives an advertisement of tragedy and self-created misfortune for ourselves and the reason is quite simple; we do not remain contented with what we already possess and always yearn for more and more.

In primitive times, the life of human beings was exceptionally simple. They did not run after material pursuits blindly and remained satisfied with their lifestyles. Our ancestors dwelled peacefully in this world sharing each others’ joys and sorrows. They lived and ate simple and healthy. That’s why their life was free from all kinds of stress and trouble.

However, the modern ego-centric man is keen to win the race of life by hook or by crook. He always wants to hold his status high in front of his relatives and peers. We, human beings, are leading an artificial life over-shadowed by our selfish and fruitless desires to compete others in order to stand ahead of them and in this futile struggle, we often face extreme stress which is no doubt our self-created.

Now-a-days, human beings fret themselves over petty issues which can be resolved easily without taking any tension at all. We, the youth of today, take unnecessary strain in our daily life matters. The young girls always worry themselves over their dresses and other accessories. Every girl wants to look better than others at occasions. That’s why they always remain unsatisfied with their clothing. I still remember the incident when at a super store a young girl was unwilling to buy a beautiful dress as she had already seen her friend wearing the same. On the other hand, guys remain vexed about new gadgets and vehicles. My aunt’s son remained hungry for two days because he wanted the brand new mobile which he saw in the market. Today, our young generation does not remain contented with what they have; instead they always wish for more. My friend wanted to study in an expensive military university because all her friends were applying there, despite knowing the fact that her parents could not afford it. She took intense stress on this ordinary matter and spent a week in a hospital. My cousin did not join the office as he wanted to do a job in a multinational company because he wanted to earn more. For this purpose, he sweated his brows unnecessarily to search for that job. My aunt wanted to give a costly present to her daughter in law on her birthday because she belonged to a rich family. She spent all her monthly income on buying a precious gift for her and then stressed out the whole month as she was left penniless. I still hark back to one of the astonishing incidents when one of my friends surprised me by saying that she was embarrassed to invite me at her home as her parents were not well-educated and she had a typical village atmosphere in her home. She was worried that her friends would make fun of her. On hearing such incidents of superfluous self-created annoyance and snag, I am bound to think about the future of our youth which seems to be in doldrums because of their extremely selfish attitude.

The only reason that we suffer from intense stress in our daily life is our never-ending desires and discontented attitude in life. We have become just like the man who filled his whole bucket up to the brim with fresh apples but still hung up on the ladder waiting for more apples to fall in his already overflowing bucket. These endless wishes of human beings to gain more and more have caused them great havoc and the only way to avoid this unnecessary stress in life is to remain happy with our possessions. We should work hard to raise our status but we must not hassle ourselves over it. If man learns to remain contented with his belongings, he will never have to deal with useless stress in life.