Stress Less

Ignorance is bliss. With growing up comes many lovely things, including work, responsibility and this “stress” concept. I didn’t understand it then, but I do now. 

There’s a saying that pops up in my newsfeed every so often that says:

“Normal is getting dressed in the clothes you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car you’re still paying for, to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes, the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it” (Ellen Goodman). 

As funny as it sounds, it’s shockingly true. This is the life we have created for ourselves.  We work as hard as we can to afford the things we think we need, to have the life we think we want. 

A study conducted in 2013 by the Australian Psychological Society revealed that more than 73 per cent of Australians were experiencing negative health affects due to stress. The age group experiencing the most amount of stress was young adults and students, who also reported lower levels of wellbeing than any other age group. This seems really backwards to me, as young adulthood should be the prime of our life! Looking into it further, more than 52 per cent of these young adults reported financial burden to be the cause of their stress. 

Society puts a lot of pressure on young people to be successful and live the life everyone dreams of. In our desperate struggle for consolidation, we often lose perspective. If we don’t have that car by 25, we have failed. If we haven’t travelled the world and accumulated more than 2000 Instagram followers along the way, we have failed. 

The saying “less is more” didn’t just happen by itself. Those words hold significant truth and apply to so many aspects of life. The more we have, the more we want until it becomes an insatiable thirst that can never be quenched. It’s often when we have the least amount of “stuff” that we discover we don’t really need all that much anyway! 

1 Timothy 6:8 put it like this: “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” 

Earthly possessions and the struggle to be as good as that person with the Rolex can destroy our happiness. While we are standing here trying to figure out how to frame the perfect photo, life is happening—and we might be missing it. 

Take a step back, relax and want for nothing but the voice of the Saviour. He will show you how to succeed, and it will be unlike anything this world can offer. 

Ellesha Knight lives in Melbourne, Victoria, and is studying a Masters of Occupational Therapy at La Trobe University.