“I can't stand the pressure and competition，” explained one friend of mine when asked why he decided to quit his highly-paid but demanding position in his company recently. My friend may have his own reasons， but I don't think his decision is wise in reality.

It's true that my friend's case is not unique. In the last few years quite a number of men and women have chosen to do something less competitive at the cost of a comfortable， easy life a highly-paid job can obtain. They are afraid that the stresses and strains of work will rob them of joy and happiness and do them harm both physically and mentally. In fact， however， stress isn't the bad thing it is often supposed to be. Unless it gets out of control， a certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and challenge， and to give purpose and significance to an otherwise meaningless， idle life. People under stress tend to express their full range of potential and to actualize their own personal worth——the very aim of a human life.

Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. What we can do is to develop our adaptive abilities to deal with it rather than to escape from it.