Monday, April 18, 2016

Stress Is The Trash Of Modern Life

“Stress is the trash of modern life.  We all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly it will pile up and overtake your life.”
-Terri Guillemets
 
Everyone is stressed out even if they don’t realize it.  This includes children as well as adults.  I feel certain my granddaughter is stressed out.  It’s tough being an eleven year girl in today’s world.  This is why she likes coming to my home.  It is a stress free zone with no rules.  This is what grandparents do for grandchildren.  Most of the time I don’t feel stressed emotionally but sometimes I can feel stress in my body.  All those aches and pains are not always from walking too much.  My childhood was in the 1950’s.  Looking back it seemed like a much simpler time.  Believe it or not, divorce was extremely rare and 99% of the mothers stayed home with their children full time.  I can only remember one mom with an outside job and my mother watched her child.  I know the adults probably had their share of worries but for me it was a mostly calm and peaceful time.  It did get a little crazier when I became a rebellious teen-ager in the 1960’s.  Most of what I own now did not exist in my youth.  We have technology that was the stuff of fantasy in my younger days.  Although I have more stuff today and the stuff I have is wonderful I don’t think the overall quality of life now is as good as it was in my youth.  There is too much of everything and the pace of modern life is frantic and exhausting.  The traffic alone is enough to make you crazy.  Work has taken over many people’s lives and with the Internet and smart phones many people can never disconnect.  Life is out of balance.  The various parts of our lives bleed over into all the other parts.  It is like our lives are open windows without screens.  All of this creates stress.  Sooner or later, by choice or when we have a breakdown, we must create some balance and separation in our lives.  There needs to be boundaries and safe zones for children and adults.  We need to have the option of occasionally not participating in life.  The planet will keep spinning around the sun and life can go on without us for a day or two.      

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