I have, and it's a scary experience when your heart is beating so fast and so irregularly that you can actually feel it making you sicker and sicker. And you can feel your blood pressure going up every minute.
That night I ended up in the emergency room at the local hospital, with nothing wrong with me physically, just a huge overload of stress that had thrown my body into total disarray. Yes the medical team did have to pump me full of drugs to bring everything back to normal, and they did have to temporarily stop my heart and restart it before they could get it to return to a regular beat ... but there wasn't anything wrong with me physically if you understand the differentiation I'm trying to make. It was all just about the stress!
So, what was I so stressed about?
Money. Or to put it more correctly, a lack of money!
Back then I had debt up to my ears, credit cards I couldn't pay, mortgages that I was potentially defaulting on, and not enough money to even put food on the table. I had seriously stuffed up.
I wasn't just making-ends-meet ... I was seriously at risk of financial self-destruction.
I'd lie awake at night wondering how to solve the problems, and worrying myself sick because I didn't know to solve them ... and I was constantly scared of the impending "executioner's sword" I could feel hanging above my head.
So the stress in my body grew and grew. And it almost killed me.
All because of a lack of money. And it's not just me that has struggled with money-related stress. A poll by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that money issues were the top reasons for holiday-related stress. And a lack of money also contributes to stress at other times as well.
The survey found that 61% of Americans listed "lack of money" as the top cause of holiday stress followed by the pressures of gift giving, lack of time, and credit card debt. Survey results also showed that younger people were more worried about a lack of money compared to people over the age of 35. Maybe the demands or the stresses are higher when you are younger with a new family etc.?
In the end I did find a way forward, and it worked. I found out how to increase the money coming in, and decrease the money going out ... and now my stress is at the correct level, so no more middle-of-the-night trips to the emergency rooms. Both my wife and I now sleep very well.
No matter how you look at it, not having enough money creates increased levels of stress ... and that has many flow-on effects in other parts of our lives, including our ability to work.
Having extra money to use every week means that we can pay our bills when they fall due, and we can do more for all those around us ... and that results in less pressure and less stress to deal with.
Enough Money = Less Stress. It's that simple!
Howard Woolston is a writer based in Wellington, New Zealand with a number of books and articles published over the years.
For more information, and to contact the author please go to http://www.INeedMoreMoneyToday.com
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