As if women don’t have enough stress, we invite others to dump theirs on us too.
When it comes to stress, we women are funny. Studies have found that we DO indeed have more stress than men (we already knew that, thank you) and that we’re more aware of its effect on our lives. We’re also more likely than the guys to do something positive to get our stress under control.
The funny part is that despite the fact that we’re not above admitting we’re stressed out and trying occasionally to meditate or de-clutter or eat enough chocolate to make us forget what it was that was causing us to freak out in the first place, we’re also just as likely to say “yes to the stress.” It doesn’t even have to be our stress; we invite other people to dump theirs on us too – children, spouses, relatives, friends, coworkers, strangers we meet in the elevator, our pets, fictional characters on television and in movies… They don’t even have to ask us to do it for them; we just open our arms and embrace everyone’s problems. Don’t shake your head; you know I’m talking about you.
Are we crazy or what?
But what woman has time to truly manage her stress? Not my friend Marcy who regularly mows the lawn with her 10-month-old strapped onto her chest while talking on her cell phone in an attempt to make sure that night’s volleyball game has enough players. Then there’s Elizabeth, who when she’s not busy running her own clothing store fosters pit bull puppies so they’ll get a second chance at life. Or Shelley, who does the early morning news so she can be home in time to make her kids’ basketball, soccer, piano, ballet, drama, voice, and martial arts lessons and then fall into bed exhausted at 8:30 p.m. Or Melody, who worked two jobs last winter to try to make ends meet, while traveling across the state every other weekend to keep the spark in her long-distance relationship.
There are so many things that make us women feel that our lives are out of control. For example:
