My mate Darren recently confided in me something that I found a bit surprising. Basically, he’s experiencing a whole bunch of stress around suddenly finding himself a homeowner. How sudden can that really be, you ask? Well, point taken, but it’s all relative. It’s not like he inherited a home from his parents after their tragic demise in a jet accident or anything, but it seems he wasn’t really prepared for the psychological toll of the extra responsibility, perceived or otherwise.
Why is this surprising to me? Well, first of all, I’ve always kind of assumed that owning a home would significantly reduce stress. Evidently, I haven’t given it a ton of thought, because that seems pretty naive now that I consider it. I mean, sure, you’re not constantly on the verge of being kicked out of your lovingly kitted out home, or rendered broke by a rent increase. On the other hand, you are now solely responsible for said home and must deal with the joys of interest rates. It’s an apples and oranges thing.
Anyway, I’ve been trying to think of how to help Darren with his key issue, which is essentially an ongoing state of moderate stress. I’ve finally hit upon the idea of suggesting he sign up for a stress management course. Melbourne, fortunately for him, has numerous services of this kind available if you know where to look. It’s just a matter of knowing that this is something that people can assist with professionally.
I’m sure that some basic stress management techniques can be learned via a quick online search, but an in-person consultant would hold you more accountable for actually applying them. At least, I imagine as much. That’s half the battle, isn’t it? We all have an endless list of things that we know would support our health and wellbeing, but forget to put them into action.
At the end of the day, health is wealth, and there’s no point investing in real estate if you’re not going to invest in your health as well.