Every time I travel to Europe (especially outside of the big cities) I notice that the stress level tends to be much lower than what we have here in the US (regardless of city or town). Yes, big city folks tend to always be on edge (think of the typical New Yorker), but I've found folks from New Hampshire to Michigan and from Florida to Missouri to posses as much stress, albeit at a different level, than the typical city dweller.
The whole thing got me thinking, can one really live a practical and cost conscious life if stress is present? I'm not talking about occasional stress that is associated with a job or family, rather I'm talking about the constant stress that keeps you up at night or prevents you from enjoying the weekends or a nice meal.
I used to work a pretty stressful job in a competitive industry and after a day at the office I didn't want to handle any of the practical living things I've been blogging about on Scordo.com; in fact, at the end of day all I wanted was a glass of wine and some food (preferably the kind that I didn't have to make myself). Now, removed from the hyper-competitive industry and working a more sane job, I find time to cook, read, work on the house, and be with my family (all at the level that I want).
So, yes, stress is bad! It's bad for the obvious reasons (namely, health reasons), but it's also bad because it robes the individual of time to stop and think about how to live one's life in the best possible way. Think about how high levels of stress prevent the individual from:
- learning new skills
- reading both fiction and non fiction books
- working on your home so you don't have to pay someone else to mow your lawn, clean your kitchen, wash your windows, build some bookshelves, etc.
- looking at your household budget and making adjustments to find savings
- spending time with your wife/husband and kids
- traveling the world (or the US)
- cooking great meals
- sharing a good conversation
- thinking and planning
I know it's difficult to control stress and people handle stress in different ways (and some are able to cope with more than others), but as a general rule of thumb living a practical and full life is about controlling stress.
Have a good, relaxing and stress free, weekend!
Wow, ain't that the truth! For one thing, when you are operating in constant stress, spending money makes your life easier (paying people to get stuff done so you don't have to stress about that item), so life under stress is a lot more expensive.
I retired 8 months ago, and as you might imagine, my stress levels have plummeted, and amazingly, my expenses have too! We cook more, work on our own home and yard projects more, I'm taking classes and learning new things, pretty much I'm doing more of every single thing on your list! And it's costing less.
I think you're on to something here . . .
Congrats on the retirement, Syd! I'm wondering if most people retire thinking that stress level will decrease? I would also be interested in seeing if stress level stays the same for some retired folks?
I'll see if I can expand on the whole stress subject in upcoming posts!
Vince