I always wanted to be the coolest kid on the block, but it never really played out that way for me. No matter how hard I tried I was never the coolest guy. Even if lots of people liked me and I was popular there were still others who were more liked and more popular.
Whatever they cool kids had I had to have too. Back in my day it was Starter jackets and Nike clothing. The more jackets you had the cooler you were. I could only afford one. I had to work hard to pay for it, which meant I didn’t have as much time to show off in my cool jacket. Coolness came with a price. Coolness meant that I would have to work hard to make the money to buy the things to keep up with the other cool kids. Maybe one day I would be able to buy something before all of the other cool kids and then I would be the king of cool.
Never happened.
Why? The art of being cool took so much work and effort that eventually I got stressed out and gave up trying. Cool just wasn’t worth the effort. Changing trends, cost of goods, fleeting satisfaction and burnout from trying to beat out the Joneses led me to a place that might be a lot less cool, but it was also a lot less stressful.
Fast forward a couple decades and here I am in the middle of the coolest city in America. Forbes Magazine announced at the beginning of August that Las Vegas is the coolest city in America to live in. Pull out the fireworks and lets have a party! Wait. Skip it. What else does Forbes Magazine have to say about Las Vegas? Just a few weeks after the coolest city study came out, the list of the top ten most stressful cities in America came out. Who is number one? Las Vegas.
Are you surprised?
A bad economy, lack of access to health care, and an insecurity about the future are all things that have created an unstable environment for people to live. I wouldn’t argue a single point made, but I would add that I also believe that Las Vegas is the most stressful city in America because of the stress of being cool. Casinos, restaurants, hotel chains are chasing after cool. They continue to renovate, morph and change to compete with the one next door. This competition for cool trickles down to the employees and families all over the valley. The endless pursuit of cool leads many down a very stressful road that ultimately no one will win. Cool comes with a price and in Las Vegas I believe it is causing havoc in many peoples lives.
The stress of being cool was a waste of time in High School and it is an even bigger waste of time now that I am older. How much time are you spending on trying to be the cool kid? (church? pastor? business?)
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