We are extremely stressed. Many claim that nowadays people are much more stressed than the generations of the past. I have no reason to doubt this. There have been many changes to the way we live our lives. On the face of it we adopted to these changes, but we are entirely ill-prepared for the ultimate consequences of such rapid transformations.
We migrated to cities, which made us independent but also alone. We achieved the agricultural revolution, which fed us but also made us overweight. We achieved the industrial revolution, which made things cheaper but also made us debt burdened consumerists.
All of these issues lead to stress but at the same time are largely self-imposed. There is no particular reason to be lonely. Socializing is free. Having a stronger relationship with our family should be natural and should require no additional effort. We should be able to control our diet and caloric intake. We should not try to make ourselves happy by making frivolous purchases. We expect a lot from ourselves, people around us, and our lives. Ever higher expectations are obviously bound to disappoint in time. Knowing this almost axiomatical fact, why pressure ourselves?
We stress because we want more. We want to achieve, and achievement is never guaranteed. Ironically, guaranteed achievement is never satisfactory. Stress has evolved to make us care, but there has to be a balance between crushing anxiety and complete apathy. Life is full of real tragedies. Some of which are impossible to avoid. A certain level of stress is so much in magnitude and so crippling that we do not live long enough to reap the potential benefits of caring so much. In this context, stress is an entirely invalid human emotion that must be abandoned.