“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.”
― Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum LP
Americans are some of the most stressed out people on earth. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), 2012’s article The Impact of Stress, 72% of their respondents stated their stress levels have markedly increased or stayed the same in the last 5 years. Levels of stress were found in the following areas:
- money (69 percent)
- work (65 percent)
- the economy (61 percent)
- family responsibilities (57 percent)
- relationships (56 percent)
- family health problems (52 percent)
- personal health concerns (51 percent)
Even though the levels of stress are higher or staying the same according to the APA article more Americans are turning to exercise as a coping mechanism. (Now…how truthful that is only the respondent knows).
Irregardless, we all are faced with stress. Life is simply filled with events which will either make or break you. All of the stress inducers mentioned above are simply part of life…and we as adults have to figure out healthy alternatives besides drug/alcohol/food addictions to cope. Luckily, again if the respondents are being truthful, unhealthy addictions such as eating to manage stress and turning to alcohol are on the decline. Mind you too, this study was done two years ago and we have yet to see what the 2013 results are but let’s hope we Americans are making better life choices to deal with all the various life components thrown our way. 🙂
Life in These United States 