There was once a land of peace
there were daily disturbances,
but they were always quickly quelled,
and no one gave them any particular notice.

Then as the kingdom grew and matured,
a certain apprehension fell over the land,
and, while the daily disturbances did not increase,
the people's foreboding became a major part of their everyday lives.

...And yet amidst it all they grew and matured,
with only a few questioning the matter.

While the ordinary continue to speculate that there is "a gene for this" and "a gene for that."
I'll tell you directly there is a gene for everything!

A fan writes:
"Reading your comments regarding the numerous disturbances that can beset a man, due to his thinking, has at times made me forget all of the stress that can come from my subcortical nervous system. I notice you never mention that."

All right, sir, I'll mention it...it can be of use.
In place of trying to focus your attention by counting each breath or repeating a mantra, you say privately to all your systems whenever you can think to do so "Stress not." If you will keep in mind that my use of the word "stress" is not limited to routine interpretations of the phenomenon. I will make the further observation that the ordinary state of consciousness, often referred to by mystics as that of "sleep and confusion," can also be seen as being a condition of unacceptable stress, that is, to those who struggle against it by undertaking The Quest.
The simple feel little stress beyond that of immediate physical needs and the more sophisticated believe it all based on past experiences -- as always: only the more conscious see what it is in its entirety.

A tree, rigid at the roots,
is rigid at the top,
and, while neither can apparently do anything about it,
at least the top can try.

(Circumstances don't break a man -- the wind does.)

Where consensus usurps the potential of the individual,
there will Adam be found to have been driven.

In one land, legend says there was a particular spirit which originally produced the concept of time, which was followed by its sister's invention of stress, both of which remained inoperable until their father made the creatures there capable of thinking about the two.