By Radley West
This will be an unpopular perspective, but stay with me. STRESS IS MANUFACTURED.
Before anyone throws their coffee at the newspaper, let me clarify something. I’m not saying difficult things aren’t real. Bills are real. Deadlines are real. Family responsibilities are real. Relationships are real. Life can absolutely be hard.
What I am saying is that a surprising amount of our stress comes from the stories, urgency, and pressure we add to reality.
Somewhere along the way, being stressed became a badge of honor. People wear exhaustion like proof they’re important. We glorify busy schedules, constant availability, and overcommitment as if they were some kind of competitive sport.
And honestly? A lot of it is self-inflicted. Not all stress, of course. But more than most people realize.
We say yes when we mean no. We overbook our calendars. We create imaginary deadlines. We check emails as if the world might end if we wait 20 minutes. We turn minor inconveniences into full emotional documentaries.
Then we wonder why our nervous systems are exhausted.
Perspective matters.
A traffic delay feels very different when you decide it’s a temporary inconvenience instead of a personal attack. A busy season at work feels different when you stop telling yourself it will last forever. Even exercise changes when you stop viewing it as punishment and start being grateful that your body has the ability to move and improve.
Your brain listens to the way you describe your life.
That doesn’t mean you ignore problems or go through life like Pollyanna. It means learning to find the good in everything. For example, when an ex-partner is frustrating you be grateful for that person because without your relationship with them, your children would not exist. If your boss is making you angry, be grateful because without your job, you would not have money to live.
One of the healthiest things a person can do is pause long enough to ask: “Am I stressed because of the situation itself, or because of the meaning I’m attaching to it?”
That question changes a lot.
I see this often in health and fitness, too. People stress themselves into paralysis trying to be perfect. They turn one missed workout into failure. One bad meal becomes “starting over Monday.” Meanwhile, the body responds far better to consistency and calm than panic and extremes.
Stress isn’t always avoidable. But sometimes it’s adjustable. Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is stop acting like every moment requires a five-alarm response.
The world will keep spinning. Your email can wait a minute. No one has ever calmed down because someone told them to calm down, so I won’t even try.
But perspective? That helps.
Radley West is married to Dr. Andrew West and together they own Anytime Fitness Lake Murray and 33/18 Chiropractic Associates. Radley is a gym owner and personal trainer with more than 20 years of experience helping people achieve non-traditional health goals. She and her team approach fitness by teaching clients to build better habits and create sustainable, feel-good fitness and nutrition routines—no need for intense six-pack aspirations (unless that’s your thing).
