Blessed Stressedness

The tingles arise. The palpitations start. A small bead of sweat runs over a popped forehead vein. It's that enemy we all know: stress, with its unattractive mystique, fast-talking personality and sudden fits of rage. You know when it's coming - it lets you know hours, even days before. And you certainly remember the time it lays its unwelcome head on your welcome mat. No amount of yoga meditation can help you now.

But what if stress was our undercover friend, a kind of frenemy? Maybe its sweaty-palm odour was really a guarana-infused aroma, bettering our lives. Perhaps it was a form of protector, alerting you to a 'run vibe' with rapists, putting up red flags on your bad date, letting you know when someone from work was a little disappointed with your efforts. It may be that friend that gives you a swift kick when you're letting yourself down, especially in a hungover hemisphere. It wipes the smeared mascara off your face after a bad day, leading you reluctantly back to Excel. It might even give you a little kick at the gym after that myriad of coffees, in order make that tush a little tighter. What was the reason it was supposed to be bad again?

Lactose Intolerance: When Did It Become Cool?

Of course there will be stress disorders. But these don't affect the average person, whomever that is (unless of course you're one of those lactose-intolerant, 'shopping-addicted', semi-employed chihuahua types). Stress is a friend to be sat in like an uncomfy chair. The more you are aware of the reality of the chair the more you hate it; however if you were to appreciate that it is holding you up more than your lax La-Z-Boy, you might come to adore its uncomfortable ways. It's like that bit too much chilli in your sandwich: it may be a pain but it certainly makes you aware (and similarly teary, at times). To be blessed with stress is to be aware of your surroundings, akin to swimming in a kind of crazy ch'i. Feeling semi-run over but alerted to all that is wrong in the world, you can make your own life better via your own caffeinated kick-in-the-guts.

To those currently holding a stress serum or smelling salts under the tongue, the message is clear: less stress is only a beauty therapy massage away. But perhaps it may be time to enjoy the rollercoaster that is your hormones and personal problems; perhaps as an ode to the frenemy that is clearly here to stay. Stressedness is blessedness, the tool of the powerful and the complaint of the weak.