Cultural Stress & Busyness
In the last few decades, our lives have become busier than ever… busy with work, busy with home responsibilities, keeping up with our glamour routines, maintaining our social lives… the list goes on and on. I recently watched a Ted talk in which a professor of psychology outlined some of the major consequences of long term stress. They include:
- weakened immune system
- obesity
- higher risk of cancer
- premature death
If the consequences are so dire, why don’t we address stress and this habit of busyness? Because we’ve been taught that stress is a normal part of our daily lives and that experiencing it on a regular basis means that you are productive member of society. As time goes on, stress continues to increase. The boundaries between our work hours and our home lives are virtually non-existent (especially in the aftermath of COVID-19). Our bosses have our phone numbers and often text us when we’re at home. We also have access to our work emails and projects via our phones and home computers. According to the TED Talk I mentioned, on top of all that, we also contend with societal expectations of being:
- attractive
- fit
- healthy
- financially successful
- socially successful
- happy all of the time
Pursuing Balance Over Busyness
As you’ll see in the following video, being busy doesn’t make us happy. In fact, it can have a negative impact on our mood and our health and that there are benefits to finding balance.
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PS – Don’t forget to complete your foam rolling and mobility practice from Day One.