Too Much Stress (Simplify Pt. 1)

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"For the past three years, I have worked 70 to 90 hours, seven daysa week," says , a west coast financial executive. "Although Icomplained about it, I secretly enjoyed it. Working long, hard hourswas contributing to the rapid growth of our company. It also showed Iwas an important person. People were impressed that I worked so hard ---often until midnight." Whenever had some free time, hewould never admit it. "I would just tell people, 'I have a lot ofcontrol over my schedule right now.' If you tell them you're notbusy, it erodes their confidence in you," was his rationale.Materially, the hard work paid off. and his family live in the most affluent section of theircity. Their home has a three car garage, which houses three luxuryvehicles, a sports court in the back and a swimming pool.But with all of his material success, became uneasy andunhappy with his life. "Over the

last year or so I noticed that,except for work, I had little else: few friends, no contact with thecity in which I live, and no community involvement. Even worse, Iwould become furious if I was kept waiting by store clerks, deliverypeople, or work colleagues."After taking a good, hard look at this lifestyle, came tosome profound, drastic decisions.He quit his job; replaced his three luxury cars with a reliableutility vehicle and relocated, with his family, to the small townwhere he grew up. There he found a less stressful position whichgives him plenty of time for himself and for his family.Many people are like . A major survey recently released bythe Merck Family Fund, a non-profit organization, found that amajority of Americans, alarmed by materialism and greed, rank familytime and less job stress among their deepest aspirations.More and more people are coming to the conclusion that

theAmerican Dream is not simply about a larger house, expensive cars,and exotic vacations. It's also about peace of mind and being a partof a community. They recognize the wisdom of Henry Thoreau'sdeclarations: "Our life is frittered away by detail...simplify,simplify." Next article will show us some ways to do just that!This article was written by Victor M. Parachin and published inthe Positive Thinking Magazine. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AffirmationstoDe-Stress A positive thinking, positive affirmations support group, that empowers us with ways

to sail through daily life stress. Come aboard! PJ and Gang