Some people believe that stress in our society has reached epidemic levels.

• job stress
• relationship stress
• financial stress
• social stress
  the list goes on and on!

So, just what is stress? The dictionary defines it as:

"a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation"

If you think about any of the stresses that you've encountered, I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of them were caused by concern over the future.

• You were stressed that you were going to lose your job at the end of the month.
• You were stressed that the relationship wasn't going to last.
• You were stressed that your rent cheque would bounce when the landlord deposited it.
• You were stressed that you wouldn't know anyone at the party.
  And so on..

It is exactly this kind of future-directed stress that "causes bodily or mental tension may be a factor in disease causation" because it can last for days or weeks and has a cumulative effect. When compared with this, the actual stress experienced in the moment of any one of these situations is quite minor. If you were fired out of the blue, the stress experienced would be much less damaging than the stress of worrying about it for days or weeks.

We do ourselves a great disservice by fretting over things that haven't happened yet because the fact is that they may never happen! If we are coming from a focus of mindful awareness, we are able to plan for the future and anticipate things which may happen to us - but we don't let this develop into worry, stress or illness.

The best defense against the stresses of the day is to remain mindful of the present moment and focus more on what IS happening, than on what MIGHT happen.

ENJOY NOW!

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