I’ve heard before from someone I admire deeply,  that stress is not real, that it’s a conjured-up emotion that we are responsible for creating, no one else. This means the mountains of work found waiting for you at your desk is not stressful. Figuring out how to pay for your children’s daycare when your salary is stretched to the max, nope – not stress.  I could go on and on with what many see as stressful situations.

• Loss of a job
• An impending divorce is on the horizon
• Excessive weight gain/loss
• Declining health
• Breadwinner
• What am I even on this planet for???

Recently I posted an article on dream states which I will reference below. While I was writing the piece, I failed to recognize what my body was trying to tell me. It suddenly occurred to me that the theme of my dreams is a result of stress! But wait a minute, let’s back up. If stress isn’t real, then why the heck am I feeling all out of sorts while frantically attempting to reach a goal (as simple as finding a door to exit where ever I may be),  that I can’t seem to achieve for some silly reason? Why have I “made up” some torturous emotion that has a strong aftertaste of impending defeat?

I believe what my inspirational hero, Wayne Dyer, was attempting to relay is that stress is a perception. It isn’t tangible, so it simply isn’t real. Oh boy, we are opening a whole can of worms with this one!

While the emotion of stress may very well be a perception, in my opinion, that state of perception is very real! Isn’t there such a thing as a personal truth? Cant I feel solid about my feelings while someone else disagrees with my current mindset? I mean, is that ok? Am I breaking some type of rule when stating my stress level?

My overall thoughts are as follows: If you are experiencing stress, it’s very real even if it is a perception. What can turn this stress around is looking at the situations differently. While I may not agree with Wayne regarding stress, I do agree wholeheartedly with a famous quote touted by the man himself, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”.

Susan Anderson

Living as Divine Expression