STIMULATION!

I think stress is real. I mean it's all relative, because every one of us reads or hear what someone else is "stressing" over and we will automatically think something along the lines of "oh yeah? You think you are stressed? Try living with..."

Yeah you know you do it. So do I.

But think about it. How many of us really take a quiet break with absolutely nothing going on? The TV's on, or the cellphone's on, or if you're like me, something TechGeeky going on...logged on to something or other. We're always dealing with some sort of stimulus. Text messages, calls, you know it.

And look at the TV programs we're watching. There is some scary stuff depicted on those cop shows, (and please don't get me started on the Reality Shows). And I know a whole bunch of people who watch the 10 or 11 O'Clock News either in bed or right before. And what about CNN or FOX? Do we really, really need to be slammed with news 24/7? I mean those stations take a story and dissect it until you know the color of the socks on the woman who happened to see the story from 3 blocks away. We go to bed with the TV on, and a lot of us wake up to it again, or maybe the radio. Being up to date is cool. It's good to stay informed. But how good would Thanksgiving be if you had to eat the whole turkey, complete with the stuffing, and 10 pounds of potatoes, instead of having just enough to make you full?

We're always beyond "full" now. We're busting at the seams. We don't give it a rest. We are over-stimulated. And as if the visual stimuli weren't enough, we're dumping tanker-loads of Starbucks down our yaps, just in case the engine wasn't pumping out max RPMs. And smoking...another stimulant. Even booze, folks. Produces a short term sleep, but then interrupts the REM sleep later on.

Think about it, if you've had an infant around...if you get that baby started, playing, giggling, really cracking up, right before bedtime, get 'er all revved up, you wind up with overstimulated Baby. That equals overtired Baby, but not sleeping.

We don't change completely when we grow up. We need rest. I don't think most of us get enough recuperative time.

So we stress. A lot.

Just a thought.