There's a psycho-spiritual framework by a man named Rhondell called The Science of Man. There's a whole backstory to it, which you can look up if you're interested. The part that really struck me was when Rhondell said, "We come into the world with a uterine imprint."

What he meant was that our earliest consciousness, in utero, is a sort of ethereal experience. Think about it: it’s mood-lit, sound is dampened, we’re floating in liquid, and everything—food, oxygen—is automatically provided. We don’t have to do anything except exist in a calm, peaceful state. Our earliest sensory imprint is of this effortless, serene environment.

Then, life abruptly throws us out of that uterine world into this material one—the one we’re all navigating right now. And yet, we carry with us this subconscious memory, this belief that life is supposed to be peaceful, easy, and stress-free. No wonder so many of us are drawn to comfort, leisure, and moments of escape—it’s part of our original design.

But, of course, this peaceful ideal is at odds with the nature of the material world. Life inevitably brings stress, conflict, and friction. And every time we encounter these challenges, it can feel like we’re being betrayed by life itself, as if it’s not supposed to be this way. This underlying tension can be the source of so much conflict.

Interestingly, research shows that the stress of life only becomes negative if we perceive it negatively. When we accept and welcome stress as an inherent part of this material world, our experience of life’s challenges transforms.

Now, here’s something funny about this concept of the uterine imprint: so many of us hold onto the idea that we’ll eventually reach a future state—whether it’s retirement, some imagined moment of ultimate relaxation, or even Heaven—where stress no longer exists, and we won’t have to put forth effort. And maybe that’s true after we leave this plane of existence. But for here and now, all the evidence suggests that stress is part of life’s design. It’s not meant to be peaceful all the time. The sooner we realize that, the better we can embrace and experience the fullness of life.