Why do people add even more needless stress to their life?

No, I'm not sure. They know what they're doing will cause stress in many cases.

I absolutely agree. Essentially the more humans and creatures you add into your life the more complicated it gets. Ditto job moves, house moves, country moves. I think keeping it simple where you can leads to a more content life.

That’s true about weddings. Erm you are making all of these decisions about your ‘big day’, and making it stressful for yourself! There is absolutely no need (imo).

Some people can't visualise what something will actually be like in reality. Some people like the adrenaline that comes from stress and pressure.

Some people are really cautious and only make very sensible decisions and avoid stress at all costs. That can be a bit dull.

Because everyone needs to have good things in their life? I could have much less stress if I didn't keep all my many pets, didn't garden, didn't do voluntary work, but what's the point in a life where you just work and watch TV? The stress is proportional to the joy!

Also agree - one child, no pets, part-time job = low stress.

I have a colleague with two children, a dog, a horse and she works close to full-time hours. I have no idea when she sleeps.

But conversely, some people are just very low-energy, and the idea of leaving the house other than going to work, or getting off the sofa, or seeing friends, or committing to something not strictly necessary, is to them 'unnecessary stress.'

I used to have a colleague who found my perfectly ordinary levels of activity (FT job, married, one child, writing on the side, seeing friends, singing in a band, periodically going to gigs or films, hiking, walking a friend's dog, going away for weekends or to my home country to visit family, a bit of local activism) absolutely incomprehensible.

Whereas he did exactly the same job as me at the same level of seniority, and had a similar commute, married with two children, but would complain about anything 'extra' in his week, like a parent-teacher meeting or having to take them to their swimming lesson on Saturday morning, as if it somehow infected his whole week. His idea of heaven was sitting down on the sofa after he got home from work on Friday, knowing he didn't have to leave the house again till he left for work on Monday.

I suppose what I'm saying is that what counts as 'unnecessary stress' is pretty subjective.

I used to have a high-energy colleague who found my perfectly ordinary levels of energy absolutely incomprehensible. She couldn't understand why, after working all week, I didn't want to spend my weekends hiking, going to gigs, travelling, writing, joining bands and doing local activism. Her idea of a relaxing weekend was apparently to keep adding activities to it. I suppose what I'm saying is that what counts as “unnecessary stress” is pretty subjective.

That exactly what I said, though. He thought I was very high-energy. I thought he was incredibly low-energy. These things are subjective.

YANBU but also I'm child-free and I thought this (on the inside) every time a friend told me they were going to have a child.

I also love dogs and the reason I don't have one is because I know perfectly well how much stress it would add to my life!

I've long observed that very few people seem to go about life in such a way as to make it as chilled, enjoyable and non-stressful as possible. I don't know why this is!