How do you Deal with Stress?

[Craig]

In my mid 50's now, and retirement is close ... but not quite yet.

In the meantime, we got stress here in River City.  Board meetings, seeing guys fired who shouldn't be fired, a career where 26 months on the job is average, before you need to move to the next gig, etc.  Loads more stress than earlier in my career.  And, I know I / we have it very good relative to so many others challenged these days.

We're going kayaking soon.  Go for walks with our dog, bird watching, etc.

What do you do to deal with stress these days.  And, if you have a few years under your belt, do you view the world as much more stressful now versus say 10 or 20 years ago ... or just my imagination / perspective.

 

[Nords]

What do you do to deal with stress these days.

Surfing. Martial arts.

And, if you have a few years under your belt, do you view the world as much more stressful now versus say 10 or 20 years ago ... or just my imagination / perspective.

It's always something... would we prefer terrorism, the Cold War, stagflation, a fuel crisis, Vietnam, or Korea?

We have far more analytical computing power to look for scary problems. I doubt that we could have identified ozone holes or global warming trends or even inflation in the 1960s until the situation was far too deteriorated to reverse. Of course I'm not sure that we're in a position to do much today, either, but at least we're aware of the problems.

We were all blissfully ignorant before the Web started disseminating info to anyone with a modem and the time to use it. I think that the Internet has made us all aware that there are many more choices out there and many more things going on than perhaps we used to be aware of. Having more choices can be more stressful, especially if we feel obligated to "choose something". I see it as the world's largest candy store while others are overwhelmed trying to decide between the red & black licorice.

 

[REWahoo]

And, if you have a few years under your belt, do you view the world as much more stressful now versus say 10 or 20 years ago ... or just my imagination / perspective.

Stress and the Chicken Little syndrome are no worse today than in the past. Communication is better and the media can sell a lot of advertising by hyping gloom and doom (example: the ABC TV special this week “Last Days on Earth”), so things may appear worse than ever. But don’t forget the days of the Cold War when the only defense against the Evil Empire raining nuclear destruction on the Free World was our capability to do the same and almost certainly destroy civilization. The suicide bombing Islamic nut-jobs of today pale in comparison to the real possibility of world destruction by the Sons of Joseph Stalin.

Call me cynical, but as I see it the world has and always will have conflict, famine, pestilence and death. That’s the horse mankind rode in on and the same one we will ride out.

“Don’t worry, be happy!”

 

[LOL!]

1. Switch jobs
2. Aquarium hobby
3. Guitar hobby
4. Bike riding
5. A big go-to-hell fund
6. Quit all your jobs

I've used all of these except #6.  My biggest stress nowadays is coaching youth sports which I enjoy immensely.  So having no stress in your life is kinda boring, isn't it?

And I think there is no difference in world stress nowadays than in the past. Certainly my personal stress levels are way, way down.

 

[farmerEd]

Miller Lite.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

Bike riding, running, martial arts, and marital arts. A shot of Crown Royal now and then doesn't hurt.

 

[uncledrz]

Over the past couple of years I have gone part time at work so the pressure from full time work just isn't there. When I was working full time, I handled the stress with excersize every day. It was the one time during the day that work didn't seep into every thought (ok, one other activity , but this is a PG rated website).

 

[Khan]

I used to self-medicate.

Then I retired.

 

[razztazz]

Whenever I feel the need to get stressed I just read these boards.

Oh, you mean how do I DE-stress. I haven't had that problem in 11 yrs

 

[Martha]

Whenever I feel the need to get stressed I just read these boards. 

I find discussing tax and legal issues on this board relaxing. I am not being fascetious.

I can get myself nice and stressed when discussions concerning class stratifications of the United States come up.

I think I'll watch Dr. Crusher teach Data how to tap dance instead.

 

[razztazz]

I find discussing tax and legal issues on this board relaxing. I am not being fascetious.

I can get myself nice and stressed when discussions concerning class stratifications of the United States come up.

I think I'll watch Dr. Crusher teach Data how to tap dance instead

Wel, you're sort of right. This board is the most like high school. Maybe Jr High. The most clanish. BUT it is also the one with the largest amount of consistant, useable information and links regarding the investment and related issues

 

[REWahoo]

Wel, you're sort of right. This board is the most like high school. Maybe Jr High. The most clanish. BUT it is also the one with the largest amount of consistant, useable information and links regarding the investment and related issues

You forgot to mention the consistently high quality of grammar, spelling, punctuation and otherwise superb writing skills on the forum.

 

[Nords]

I used to self-medicate.

That's a very good point.

Do you drink more coffee or less in retirement? More alcohol or less?

Personally my coffee consumption is way down (especially because I'm not freezing my butt off in air conditioning) and my alcohol consumption has almost halted.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Somehow, sometime over the years I have learned or evolved to separate my sense of "self" from most of the stressful things i encounter. I have a high stress job by many peoples' standard.

It's not that I don't feel compassion or identification with the situations I encounter, but rather that I've gotten better at accepting that what is, is. Seems like most stress is from the stories we weave around situations rather than the situations themselves.

I'm more likely to feel intense about things I enjoy than things I dread. Not sure, but I think I learned some of these things from reading about eastern practices like meditation, living in the moment, etc.

Oh... and I jog and read, and garden and (used to) ride motorcyles alot, and take my dog to parks, and so on when I have the time.

 

[sgeeeee]

. . . What do you do to deal with stress these days.

 

Run, exercise, sleep, spa, hike, camp, travel. Of course I spend enough time doing these things that I don't have much stress to deal with.

And, if you have a few years under your belt, do you view the world as much more stressful now versus say 10 or 20 years ago ... or just my imagination / perspective.

I think it is in many ways. I think US politics is more devisive and discordant than at any time I remember in the past. My travels in recent years make me think that Americans are less welcomed in much of the world than I recall from previous travels. I'm not sure that we face any more serious economic and social problems than we have faced in the past, but we don't seem to be facing any fewer.

 

[Nords]

I think it is in many ways.  I think US politics is more devisive and discordant than at any time I remember in the past.  My travels in recent years make me think that Americans are less welcomed in much of the world than I recall from previous travels.  I'm not sure that we face any more serious economic and social problems than we have faced in the past, but we don't seem to be facing any fewer.   

Didn't De Tocqueville say the same thing 170 years ago?

At least members of Congress aren't committing grievous bodily harm on each other. Or anyway not in the Capitol building...

 

[sgeeeee]

Didn't De Tocqueville say the same thing 170 years ago?

Yes. But you realize that has no bearing on whether or not my statement is true. And, of course, the level of stress 170 years ago is irrelevant to even the oldest poster on this board. I'm sure things were pretty stressful in 10,000 BC for the early paleolithic hunters in North America, too.

At least members of Congress aren't committing grievous bodily harm on each other. Or anyway not in the Capitol building...

I'm not sure it would cause me much stress if they were.

 

[Nords]

Yes.  But you realize that has no bearing on whether or not my statement is true.

Yes, I do.

But most "This is the worst I've ever seen" comments lack the historical perspective and can be mistaken for "This is the worst it's ever been". In fact I'd say that statements of that nature are more opinion than fact, so truth is squishy or even irrelevant.

Having the ER time to read has given me a much better appreciation for how much we can learn from history. I wish I'd had that perspective when I was working, and it would have kept me from overreacting to many of those "Worst I've ever seen" comments.

 

[sgeeeee]

. . . But most "This is the worst I've ever seen" comments lack the historical perspective and can be mistaken for "This is the worst it's ever been".  In fact I'd say that statements of that nature are more opinion than fact, so truth is squishy or even irrelevant.

Having the ER time to read has given me a much better appreciation for how much we can learn from history.  I wish I'd had that perspective when I was working, and it would have kept me from overreacting to many of those "Worst I've ever seen" comments.

I think you missed the original question. When someone states that it seems to them like there is more stress in the world today and asks others if they feel the same, I think they are asking for opinions. All any of us can do is offer opinions. You don't seem concerned that other posters offered the opinion that there was not more stress, yet clearly they have the same limitations as I do in that regard.

It is certainly true that I can only compare the feeling of stress I have experienced over my lifetime. And even that comparison is far from evenhanded. I remember seeing Eisenhower when I was 8 years old. I don't recall any political stress in the world then. But that's probably because I was 8 years old and more worried about my 3rd grade classmates than about who was president. As I got older, I became more aware of political issues, but perspective constantly changes with experience.

Although reading historical accounts of past events and periods is something I enjoy too, I think it is naive to believe that reading more about history will give you a better answer to the original question. It is easy to find historians that give contradictory opinions about the same events and periods of time. And understanding that life, politics, technology and society was different in the distant past does not really get to the heart of the question. Mankind has progressed socially over time. There are periods of decline and advance, but much like the stock market the long term trend is social progress. Stress can be associated with both advancing and declining social progress. The question is really about whether we are in a period of relatively higher or lower stress today. Several posters have offered their opinions. In a decade or so, historians will offer their opinions.

 

[Khan]

That's a very good point.

Do you drink more coffee or less in retirement? More alcohol or less?

Personally my coffee consumption is way down (especially because I'm not freezing my butt off in air conditioning) and my alcohol consumption has almost halted.

My caffeine consumption has remained the same: one tea bag a day.

For several months after retiring I drank too much (at home, not getting in trouble). Now it's decreased to a glass or two of wine a day.

I've lost 40 pounds since I retired, and my blood pressure is almost down to normal.

 

[Eagle43]

Stress?  We ain't got no stinkin' stress! URL points to a surefire way to relieve it, if you do.

 

[mathjak107]

i usually pull the wings off of flys while playing with my laughing box.

 

[Craig]

Nords, I certainly agree on that historical perspective. Before my time, but I'll bet the years 1929 to 1945 were no piece of cake.

Biggest problem today, I suspect, is 24 hour news, and constant reminders of all the risks, new, old and imagined, we face.

 

[Arc]

Prayer - it reminds me that I do not carry the entire burden alone.

 

[MJ]

Prayer - it reminds me that I do not carry the entire burden alone.

Is that you Joanne d' ?