By Dean Maddox – Public Safety & Crime Reporter

I read a piece this morning saying Gen Z and Millennials feel overwhelmed an average of 17 days a month. That’s over half the time. And what’s got them so worked up? Social lives. Grocery shopping. Nutrition labels. I wish I was kidding.

The article says 88% of them feel overwhelmed by their social life. Another 83% said the same about their “digital life.” Forty-five percent said choosing healthy foods is too much for them. Nearly two-thirds said they feel calmer when they follow “simple eating” trends they find on social media. And 65% said long ingredient lists stress them out.

Let me get this straight: the same generation that grew up with the entire world in their pocket, unlimited access to food delivery, online shopping, and more creature comforts than any era in history—can’t handle grocery shopping?

I’m not here to dunk on young people just because they’re younger than me. I’m thirty-three. I remember what it was like being broke, anxious, and pissed off at the world. But here’s the difference: when my generation got overwhelmed, we went outside and lit a cigarette. We didn’t schedule a meltdown.

Life is hard. It always has been. But somewhere along the way, a bunch of people got sold the lie that if something feels hard, something must be wrong. That’s not how this works. Feeling stressed, tired, stretched thin—that’s not a disorder. That’s Tuesday.

The article ends by celebrating that people are drawn to “simpler living.” That’s fine. I got nothing against owning less crap and reading fewer headlines. But here’s the problem: if your brain short-circuits because a food label has more than six ingredients, that’s not a lifestyle issue. That’s a resilience issue.

If you want a way out of the constant freak-out loop, start here: go read a damn book. Pick up Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus or something written before the invention of the hashtag. Stoicism is making a comeback because it’s the antidote to this kind of emotional whiplash. It teaches you to handle adversity without falling apart, to stay still while the world spins sideways. Not because you don’t feel things—but because you don’t let those feelings own you.

I’m not better than anybody. I’m just tired of watching people crumble because their brunch plans fell through or their Wi-Fi went out. Some of us are out here dealing with real life, with bills, with family, with trauma, and yeah, with a pack-a-day habit and a busted coffee maker. And we’re still standing.

You want peace? Get tougher. You want less anxiety? Stop telling yourself everything’s supposed to feel good. Some days suck. Some days feel like shit. And you push through them anyway.

You don’t need another app. You need grit. You need a cigarette, a quiet place, and the guts to admit life isn’t about comfort—it’s about strength.