I was more or less watching an Animal Planet show the other day that shall remain nameless for reasons that will become apparent. There was an individual on the show who was a big name in the music world. He shall also remain nameless since a) I don’t recall his name, and b) it’s not relevant. Now, do not get me wrong – touring, making records, constantly juggling the demands of productions is stressful and there are a lot of demands. The point though is that when the guy was being interviewed about a particular subject, he made the comment of, “I have the most stressful job in the world.” Really? Okay, it’s an expression and was probably no more than that, but still. Go on a combat patrol with a squad, be an aide volunteer in one of the world’s basket case nations, ride along with a cop in an inner city, work extended emergency rooms shifts in an urban hospital, and then think about the definition of stress.

There’s an old joke about a college student who writes home (which goes to show how old the joke is) with a litany of revelations all guaranteed to distress her parents (an obviously inappropriate boy she’s fallen in love with, etc.), and at the end of the multiple events, she closes with, “Okay, none of this has happened. I did get a D in chemistry though, but I hope you keep it in perspective.” This is not to say we don’t have problems that impact us or stressful periods. On the other hand, there are always times when something temporary is temporary and taking a step back, plus a couple of deep breaths and perhaps a soothing beverage (of whatever type works) will do the trick.