OVerabundance Stress Dr. Molly Barrow Relationship expert and author

Is it necessary to compete? Nature plays tough and cruelly to the creature that is unable to win food, shelter, or a mate. If you look around in our society people are competing as much as they are over eating. Have we not evolved more than that?

How intensely do you compete in your day?

Do you struggle with your mate over the last few inches of hot morning java? Do you swell with road rage on the way to work when some jerk swerves into your lane? How do you feel when a competitor stands too close to you or to the boss? Although we may have created a world around us that demands that we compete, competition is not a requirement of a happy contented life. We can do many things to reduce our level of competition, demand and fear of other people.

In an abundance of time and wealth, the need to compete is greatly reduced. When the numbers of eligible mates are in your favor your desire to compete and sometimes your sex drive fades away. Out of necessity, humans learned to compete to survive. That trait, just like the drive to satisfy hunger, was developed in an environment of scarcity - not the overabundance of modern man. Thus, we eat and forage again for more food. Food is available on every corner across America with the result that most Americans are too fat. Our desire to compete drives us frantically forward long after we have enough food, shelter, and money causing unnecessary and stressful wear and tear on our psyches - just like the un-curbed desire for food creates havoc with our physical health.

Step back from your prehistoric beginnings and see just what feelings and emotions are out of sync with your world of today. If you are overweight, perhaps, you forage too much. If you are stressed, you may be operating with a ridiculously out of place automatic program of competition. Turn down the energy you are devoting to competition and see if you can find harmony and peace in place of stress and frustration.