I find I truly enjoy my extraordinary life.  I feel I’m lucky in so many ways.  It’s so simple, yet so satisfying.  “Find the Positive.”

There are people I know who always seem to have some mess of craziness (cluster*!@#) going on.  Their life seems to have so much turmoil and complication, just frequent stress-inducing drama.

The constant churn of turmoil must be overwhelming, exhausting, stressful, unbearable and not good for one’s health.  It’s entirely possible the overloaded person doesn’t even know they are in a state of churmoil—the constant churn of turmoil.

As people, we seem to adapt to the situations we are in at present.  For some of us, our life creeps up slowly and ongoing small changes set the basis of our level.  We adjust to the new basis and live the best we can.  I think of the poor frog in the pot of water example. 

The slow progressive increase in stress and turmoil is not much different than the hedonic treadmill lifestyle creep many households encounter.  I wonder if some of the lifestyle creep is related to the “I deserve this” for all the stress I have to deal with. 

What if you can remove some of the stress?  Can you then remove some of the lifestyle spending used to combat that stress…which may in turn cause additional stress from finances?

Let’s be clear, I have no answers for anyone.  I have a path that has worked well (so far) for my family and I’m conscientious to try and maintain that great path. 

What I think about is all the people who are in a constant grind.  Worse, I think about the people who should have a great life in many aspects: health, family, employment, home comfort, and their spiritual-self.

How can people recognize that their stress may not be forced upon them?  How can people who have constant life craziness resolve some of that overload?  Can some of these people remove the external stressors that are pulling them down and lighten themselves?

Is it in our nature to be bombarded with problems?  Does that go all the way back in our DNA to hunting/gathering/farming?  Is life so “easy” for many now relative to food and water, possibly shelter and health, that we find other reasons for churmoil?

I’ve asked so many questions above because I wonder why I try to avoid most turmoil, thereby avoiding the churmoil state.

I was listening to a podcast stating how poor people around the world, kids, in particular, seem to happy—smiling, laughing, playing—yet we struggle in the U.S.  Recently I was in Peru and saw relatively poor people smiling and looking happy.  Their concerns and stresses are far different from our own.

Is it probable that the people you surround yourself with—those with happy and joyous attitudes —can elevate your well being?  Do the stressed out, end-of-the-world type people drag you down into their stressful world?  If you do get locked in with the stressed-out people, can you help resolve their issues…for the long term, or are you just fighting an endless stream of churmoil?

My final contemplation:  Can increasing one’s gratitude level decrease one’s churmoil state, significantly?  in FIRE I have found an abundance of gratitude…see sentence one above.

Show me who you hang out with and I’ll show you your future.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.