It is a fact that people nowadays are under a lot of pressure and their lives are becoming increasingly stressful. What could be the possible reasons for this? What are some solutions to address this issue?

Stress

has become part and parcel of our lives. Even young children lead stressful lives these days. Increasing competition is the number

one

cause of

stress

. Everybody wants to achieve more and more. They want to do better than their peers. People are never happy with what they have.

This

perpetual struggle to do better than

one

’s peers leads to

stress

and causes many health problems. The modern society glorifies

workaholism

. Employees are forced to burn the midnight oil to meet crazy deadlines. Cut throat competition exists in the job market and if

one

isn’t willing to stretch oneself thin,

one

can get laid off. Most people have several financial liabilities. Getting laid off is the

last

thing they want to happen to them. So, they work harder and harder. They don’t find time for their family or themselves. Social media

also

plays a role in causing

stress

. People post exotic images of their holidays and rant about their expensive acquisitions on social media. They have just

one

mission – they want to show that their lives are actually better than the lives of others.

This

makes their friends feel inadequate. Perhaps the biggest problem that plagues our world is the pursuit of material gains. We equate happiness with cars, villas and foreign vacations. In my opinion, the only way to beat

stress

is to look for meaning in life.

Instead

of rushing after material gains, we should look inward and connect with our true nature. Setting priorities is equally important. We should ask ourselves what we want to achieve in our lives. Once we have a clear idea of our goals, we can toil towards them at our own pace.

This

approach actually makes our lives a lot less stressful.