Stress

I think stress can be divided into 3 categories. Nothing new really, I'm sure. But I'm quite fascinated with the idea.

Low stress is what I consider the undertone of living in modern society - it's ever present and passive but it's there. It's mostly consequences that are too advanced in the future to be properly calculated. Things like not flossing the night before, not drinking organic milk, that weird bump under the skin you just noticed...you feel somehow ultimately you are going to pay a price for it but it's just not urgent enough. Yet the stress of thinking about it is always there.

Then there's medium stress. This is the stress that people talk about when they talk about life. The consequences are much more predictable and closer than ever. Not having enough money, increasing debt, being late for an appointment...It's the generic stress they market out there when they do EKGs and talk about vacations and spas.

Of course now we have the creme de la creme of stress - the high stress. Which is what most people ignore (just like the low stress). It's not always present but it's ever urgent. I believe it only occurs at work so it's work dependent hence not always there. Some people work in high stress situations - firemen, policemen, finance types and others don't - janitors, mothers etc. I'm not saying there is no stress being a mother - just not high stress. (Actually the stress from being a mother is pretty much all medium and low). It's about consequence - if I don't do this, someone (possibly myself) will die.

I don't really think high stress kills more or quicker than low or medium - this isn't about degree, rather it's about type. Personality comes in play too - low stress could be negligible for some and ridiculous for others (usually Virgo types)