Feeling stressed? Congratulations.
You are a typical American.
Over the last several decades, the
United States has become the world champion in the stress category. According
to the American Institute of Stress, stress-related illnesses cost the American
economy $300 billion in medical bills and lost productivity every year.
Forty-four percent of Americans feel more stress than they did five years ago,
and one in five people experience "extreme stress," which includes
symptoms like heart palpitations, shaking and depression. Three out of every
four visits to the doctor are for stress-related ailments.
A lot of that stress is hitting us
earlier in life as well. As psychologist Robert Leahy points out, "The
average high school kid today has the same level of stress and anxiety as the
average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s."
The numbers are shocking,
especially given the fact that we live in a country that should have the least
to be stressed about. We are relatively secure. We have a higher standard of
living than most countries. We have better access to good medical care than the
vast majority of other countries in the world. Yet many countries, places like
Africa where basics like food, security and clean water are in short supply,
report lower levels of stress than those of us who seem to have it all.
Theories abound as to why our
stress is worse than so many others are. Some say it is the economy and
work-related stress. Others say our loss of community is to blame, as people
spend more time with their eyes focused on screens than the faces of family and
friends. Related to this is the mind-numbing amount of information we receive
on a daily basis that causes us to fear threats that are not even related to
us. Put those together with the general American aversion to any negative
feeling and you have a stress-induced cocktail of anxiety.
So, how do you beat the specter of
stress?
Well, the classic American answer
is to buy your way out of it. In fact, there is now a whole industry that is
focused on de-stressing your life while denuding your wallet.
Walk around the mall, for example,
and you will see opportunities:
- to purchase expensive massage chairs;
- to get a quick massage at a kiosk by Forever 21 (which
reminds you that you'll never be 21 again, thus perhaps negating the massage
effect ... but we digress ...);
- to sign up for a yoga class at the local gym and
contribute to what has become a $6-billion dollar industry while you strike a
Child's Pose;
- to sip a relaxing drink. Instead of the amped-up stress
jolt of a Red Bull or Monster energy drink, why not have a Chill or a Slow Cow
(the anti-Red Bull, and no, we're not making that up).
On the other hand, you can learn
from Deepak Chopra, who is arguably the chief guru of stress management in
American culture. Chopra, who claims he himself never has stress, sells
millions of books and other devices -- all designed to help us relax. Take the
Deepak Chopra Dream Weaver Light and Sound Mind Machine, for example. This $299
device is worn like a set of goggles, and uses a kaleidoscope of dream-like
images and sounds to help you chill out. No wonder Chopra feels no stress.
Sitting on a dreamy pile of easy money will do that to a guy.
The truth is, however, that,
despite the billions of dollars we are spending on this stuff, you just cannot
buy peace. In a world that feels out of control, no amount of time spent
tripping out in the Dream Weaver will ultimately make us feel better. Once the
goggles come off, it is back to the reality that we live in a world that we cannot
conquer, no matter how much we spend.
I conclude with what I think is
better advice.
All over this magnificent world, God
calls us to extend his kingdom of shalom-peace and wholeness -- of justice, of
goodness, of compassion, of caring, of sharing, of laughter, of joy, of
reconciliation. God is transfiguring the world right this very moment through
us because God believes in us and because God loves us. What can separate us
from the love of God? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And as we share God's love
with our brothers and sisters, God's other children, there is no tyrant who can
resist us, no opposition that cannot be ended, no hunger that cannot be fed, no
wound that cannot be healed, no hatred that cannot be turned into love, no
dream that cannot be fulfilled.[1]
How true, how true.
ReplyDeleteLove the Tutu quote.
ReplyDelete