The Art of Taking It Easy: How to Cope with Bears, Traffic, and the Rest of Life's Stressors

by Brian King

Most of us have to work, and as long as we do, hopefully we can enjoy stimulating, rewarding, and maybe personally fulfilling careers. However, not all jobs are great, and sometimes we are going to have to take a position that might fall short of our dream job just to make ends meet. If a job can’t be great, at a bare minimum it should not make you sick. I think it is a reasonable expectation, and yet so many of us work jobs that are doing just that. Imagine a situation where a person suffering burnout develops depression. That depression is going to impact that person’s productivity, as well as their life outside of work. Thankfully there are potential treatments for depression. Imagine that this person seeks out therapy. Perhaps they are prescribed an antidepressant to help their situation. Now, they are taking medicine to manage their illness brought on by their crappy job so that they can continue working the same crappy job. But now, they really can’t quit the job because they need the insurance that pays for the pills that help them do the job that’s causing the depression! Obviously life is not this simple, but you see how some people can get trapped in a vicious unhealthy cycle.