STRESS - the Matchmaker

Have you heard the say... "Misery likes company"? As you laugh when you read the story below, please contemplate on how true it actually is.

"Jeff slammed the glass on the table top.

Ben: Problem? And you are taking it on the glass?

Jeff: I think my wife & I are drifting apart.

Ben: What? Come-on. You guys are like role-models to all of us. You have been married for what? 20 years now and you fight & make-up with a rate of 7 to 17 fights & make-ups a day. It's hilarious what you guys have. It can't be over.

Jeff: Since her lay-off, and the couple of business ventures she tried to launch, she has been trying to work on managing her stress.

Ben: I see where this is going.

Jeff: I watch the news, she says that it is so depressing.I complain about people at work, she says that I need to quit blaming and look objectively.I curse my luck with the stock market, she says that I always look for more things to complain about and never really pause to analyze and stop taking the troubling paths.I pull her close to me, she says that I am using intimacy as a stress relief.

Ben: Ok. So answer me frankly here Jeff.... Are you constantly complaining?

Jeff: Pretty much.

Ben: About everything & anything?

Jeff: What is there not to complain about?

Ben: Do you demonstrate some romance or non-physical affection at all? - Or do you go straight to business and seek intimacy as a tool for quick stress relief?

Jeff: Ben, I love her, she knows that. It can be an effective tool you know - if used more often, but she won't cooperate.

Ben: I understand. So tell me if you are not complaining, losing in the stock market or watching depressing news, do you at least smile every once in a while?

Jeff: Seriously Ben? Do I need to force a smile as if I have no care in the world? What am I? A hipster?

Ben: OK, last question, when you are at home and you are done all the stock trading, the complaining, and the checking of the always-frustrating emails from work - what else do you do?

Jeff: TV , watching either R-rated movies or horror movies.

Ben: I see where the problem is?

Jeff: What?

Ben: You need to get her a job - a pretty stressful job. You both will be drinking from the same poisonous potion and you'll live happily together ever after.

-------Three Months Later.... Jeff running towards Ben, & giving him a quick hug------

Jeff: It worked - it worked!! Thanks.

Ben: It is not me, it is STRESS - the magical matchmaker. People bond in misery far easier than they bond in positivity.You speak misery, everyone is a natural; You speak positivity - it is a different code, it is a mental effort. And it certainly can't be imposed without prior warning or disclaimer. It needs to be in the marriage contract. It is not your fault she converted. Positivity has to start as a by-law under examination first. Both parties need to be in the same place of rainbows & butterflies at the same time.

Jeff: Ben, you are a life saver.

Ben: I know. STRESS for the rescue."

Stress is an easy matchmaker because it is very easy to complain, blame and point fingers. It is much harder to pause and think. It is much harder to commit to leading a less-stressed life.

During a very stressed period in my life, I come across a question that read: "What if the only purpose of your life is to enjoy it?"

You know why I cried? I didn't remember how to enjoy my life.

I'll leave you with the same question: "What if the only purpose of your life is to enjoy it?"