How Can the Remedies Be Found?

IT IS easy to list problems that pressure people today. But it is another matter to find remedies that bring relief. That, obviously, is not easy.

One reason for the difficulty is that usually the symptoms are treated, not the root causes. To find sure remedies for problems, the causes must be determined first. Once these are known, then treatment is more certain.

To illustrate: If a certain part of your body hurt due to infection, you could take a drug to deaden the pain. But would that solve the problem? No, for it would treat only the symptom, not the cause. When the drug wore off, the pain would return, since the infection would still be there. Instead, if the root cause was determined as being the infection, and it was properly treated, the pain would be eliminated.

Similarly, in looking for remedies for today’s pressures, we need to look beneath the surface. Superficial remedies clearly have not worked, because the pressures continue to grow. They will be relieved only when the basic causes are determined and the right remedies applied.

What, then, are the underlying causes of today’s fantastic pressures? One of several causes has to do with the individual himself. To an extent, people bring pressures on themselves. They may do this in various ways.

For example, persons who feel financial pressures often must shoulder much of the blame themselves. In many cases they want more things than they really need or can afford, and go into debt to buy them. Then they find that their income is not enough to make ends meet. If they would keep wants within their income and stop trying to ‘keep up with the Joneses,’ many financial pressures would be relieved.

Some who suffer from the pressures of poor health are themselves responsible. They may drink too much liquor, eat too much food or the wrong kind, smoke cigarettes, use drugs, work too hard, or not get enough rest and proper exercise. Wrong living is often the cause of poor health. Right living can often improve it.

Many who have troubles in the home stir up discontent by the way they deal with other family members. Their inconsiderate words and actions provoke others to anger. If they used more kindness and thoughtfulness they might avoid many family problems and the stress these bring.

So considerable relief may be had in some areas by learning to live as responsible persons. And yet, even those who do live responsibly still find themselves under various pressures. Why? Because many of today’s pressures are beyond what a person may be individually responsible for or able to control.

What, then, are the causes of the growing stress and tension among mankind? First, consider when these pressures began to expand, for this can help us to find their real source.