There are a lot of things that causes stress in our lives, such as finances, our family relationships, our work, medical conditions, driving, sex, competition, politics and world events; and I guess this is something that hasn't really changed over the years. But there sure seems to be a lot of people consumed with stress these days and believe it to be a natural part of their lives. They walk around uptight all of the time and find it difficult to relax. Often times they complain about migraine headaches, ulcers, tightness in their backs, and other body ailments. If you were to touch them, they would probably jump out of their skin. A lot of the stress such people possess is self-imposed. Many fear making a mistake, which might lead to their demise or cause people to think less of them. Consequently, we are seeing a generation of uptight perfectionists emerge who sweat over innocuous detail. Such people tend to drive the rest of us crazy.



To relieve stress, most of us do some sort of physical therapy, talk to people, perhaps a change of scenery or a good stiff drink. Not to be outdone, the drug companies have invented a whole new generation of chill-pills to get people to calm down and cope with their lives. Years ago "downers" were considered illegal substances. But I guess you have to hand it to the drug companies to legitimize them and make them legal. Such drugs have become so prevalent in society that you have to wonder how our grandparents and great-grandparents ever got along without them, but remarkably, they did.

Plain and simply, stress results from the fact that we are human-beings and, as such, we are imperfect creatures who make wrong or bad decisions during our lifetimes. People do not want to admit to making mistakes, but we do. We also wish we could turn the hands of time backwards and change things, but we cannot. It is convoluted thinking to become consumed by the mistakes we made in the past. We should, of course, learn from them, but we should always be looking forwards as opposed to backwards. Just remember, the last guy who was perfect, they hung on a cross.

Whether we like it or not, the sun will inevitably rise again tomorrow and we have to have the fortitude to deal with it. Yes, we will continue to screw up and make mistakes, but we have to pick ourselves back up, lick our wounds, and keep going forward. Perhaps the best way to cope with bedlam is to laugh now and then. I think my father put the best spin on it years ago when he said, "I don't have ulcers, I give them."