---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Stress is wanting something to be the way…"
description: "\"Stress is wanting something to be the way it isn't.\" — Eckhart Tolle"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/eckhart-tolle-81_inspirational_stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-wa_697462.jpg"
---

#  Stress is wanting something to be the way it isn't.

![“Stress is wanting something to be the way it isn't.” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/eckhart-tolle-81_inspirational_stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-wa_697462.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/eckhart-tolle-81_inspirational_stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-wa_697462.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/eckhart-tolle-81_inspirational_stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-wa_697462.jpg)

> “Stress is wanting something to be the way it isn't.”

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Stress arises when we resist reality, wishing things were different than they are.

**In simple terms:** Stress is resisting how things are.

Key Takeaway

Accept reality, reduce resistance.

Themes

stress acceptance mindfulness

Mood

anxious reflective

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- workplace pressure
- personal relationships
- health challenges
- financial worries

Key Concepts

cognitive dissonance attachment impermanence

Questions to Reflect On

- What am I resisting right now?
- How could acceptance change my experience?

A Different Perspective

Acceptance does not eliminate problems, it only changes our reaction to them.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Stress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stress/) [Stress Wanting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stress-wanting-5528550/) [Wanting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanting/) [Wanting Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanting-way-1961645/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/)

## Related quotes

> [Nobody knows what you want except you. And nobody will be as sorry as you if you don't get it. Wanting some other way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/nobody-knows-what-you-want-except-you-and-nobody-will-be-as-sorry-as/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [“Wanting you this way is the last thing I should be doing, Brynne. But I’m not going to stand here and lie to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-adrian/wanting-you-this-way-is-the-last-thing-i-should-be-doing-brynne-but-i/)

[Lara Adrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-adrian/)

> [“Think of it like this. If you are sad because you can't have something you want - maybe a book or a toy -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/think-of-it-like-this-if-you-are-sad-because-you-can-t-have-something/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [About half your trouble comes from wanting it your way. The rest is from getting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/about-half-your-trouble-comes-from-wanting-it-your-way-the-rest-is/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-holy-bible-1-john-2-15-msg/don-t-love-the-world-s-ways-don-t-love-the-world-s-goods-love-of-the/)

[The Holy Bible 1 John 2 15 MSG](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-holy-bible-1-john-2-15-msg/)

> [Stress is caused by being 'here' but wanting to be 'there'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/stress-is-caused-by-being-here-but-wanting-to-be-there/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Stress is a form of suffering. Look at your body and see what stress does to the body and its functions - what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/stress-is-a-form-of-suffering-look-at-your-body-and-see-what-stress/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Stress is caused by being here but wanting to be there, or being in the present but wanting to be in the future. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/stress-is-caused-by-being-here-but-wanting-to-be-there-or-being-in/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Stress is a form of suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/stress-is-a-form-of-suffering/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/unease-anxiety-tension-stress-worry/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [“Isn’t everyone on the planet or at least everyone on the planet called me stuck between the two impulses of wanting to walk away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/isn-t-everyone-on-the-planet-or-at-least-everyone-on-the-planet/)

[Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/)

> [Everybody out there watches the show and has expectations of wanting to be an 'Idol', but we're going to teach them how much hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-bice/everybody-out-there-watches-the-show-and-has-expectations-of-wanting/)

[Bo Bice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-bice/)

> [My earliest memory was watching gymnastics on live TV and wanting to do what the 'big girls' did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-hernandez/my-earliest-memory-was-watching-gymnastics-on-live-tv-and-wanting-to/)

[Laurie Hernandez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-hernandez/)

> [Growing up I did commercials and things like that, but nothing serious. As I got older, my family is really hardcore into academics. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/portia-doubleday/growing-up-i-did-commercials-and-things-like-that-but-nothing-serious/)

[Portia Doubleday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/portia-doubleday/)

> [Wanting someone you cant have, isnt that the way it always works?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wanting-someone-you-cant-have-isnt-that-the-way-it-always-works/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by Eckhart Tolle

> [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. I recommend that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/a-powerful-spiritual-practice-is-consciously-to-allow-the/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [To become aware of the subtlety of nature you need to be alert. The moment you become alert you become still... thinking subsides. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-become-aware-of-the-subtlety-of-nature-you-need-to-be-alert-the/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [When you are not honoring the present moment by allowing it to be, you are creating drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-are-not-honoring-the-present-moment-by-allowing-it-to-be-you/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/on-a-deeper-level-you-are-already-complete-when-you-realize-that/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/life-will-give-you-whatever-experience-is-most-helpful-for-the/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [“War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/war-is-a-mind-set-and-all-action-that-comes-out-of-such-a-mind-set/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Whenever you step out of the noise of thinking, that is meditation, and a different state of consciousness arises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whenever-you-step-out-of-the-noise-of-thinking-that-is-meditation-and/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Get the inside right, and the outside will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/get-the-inside-right-and-the-outside-will-take-care-of-itself/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [It is very hard to tell when I started to be a spiritual teacher. There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-very-hard-to-tell-when-i-started-to-be-a-spiritual-teacher/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [Let the end of the world be inside you, then you don't need to fear the end of the world out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/let-the-end-of-the-world-be-inside-you-then-you-don-t-need-to-fear/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [“Jeste li zabrinuti? Razmišljate li često: »Što bi bilo da sam...?« To znači da ste se poistovjetili s umom, koji se projicira u neku…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/jeste-li-zabrinuti-razmi-ljate-li-esto-to-bi-bilo-da-sam-to-zna-i-da/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

[Explore all 1,493 Eckhart Tolle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

## More Inspirational quotes

> [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [We talk to God--that is prayer; God talks to us--that is inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-emilie-cady/we-talk-to-god-that-is-prayer-god-talks-to-us-that-is-inspiration/)

[H. Emilie Cady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-emilie-cady/)

> [You cant be controlling in improv.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-walsh/you-cant-be-controlling-in-improv/)

[Matt Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-walsh/)

> [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/)

[Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/)

> [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Just understand that the good that you want is already here. All you have to do is get in harmony with it. And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/just-understand-that-the-good-that-you-want-is-already-here-all-you/)

[Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/)

> [“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-you-want-to-build-a-ship-don-t-drum-up-the-men-to-gather-wood/)

[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/)

> [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/)

[Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/)

> [It's not the method, it's the mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-gilbert/it-s-not-the-method-it-s-the-mindset/)

[Andy Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-gilbert/)

> [It's a hard thing to describe. It's just this sense that you got something to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lehrer/it-s-a-hard-thing-to-describe-it-s-just-this-sense-that-you-got/)

[Jonah Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lehrer/)

> [Too much familiarity breeds contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/too-much-familiarity-breeds-contempt/)

[Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/)

> [We never really perceive what color is physically!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/we-never-really-perceive-what-color-is-physically/)

[Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/)

> [Politics is not an issue whether you like or dislike , but every citizen must involve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/politics-is-not-an-issue-whether-you-like-or-dislike-but-every/)

[Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/)

> [God reveals Himself through surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/god-reveals-himself-through-surprises/)

[Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/)

> [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/)

[Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/)

[Browse all 114,561 Inspirational quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Stress is wanting something to be the way it isn't.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Eckhart Tolle"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-way-it-isn-t/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Inspirational"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-way-it-isn-t/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/eckhart-tolle-81_inspirational_stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-wa_697462.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/eckhart-tolle-81_inspirational_stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-wa_697462.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/442/eckhart-tolle-81_inspirational_stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-wa_697462.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Stress is wanting something to be the way it isn't.” — Eckhart Tolle",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Eckhart Tolle",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Stress is wanting something to be...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-way-it-isn-t/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/stress-is-wanting-something-to-be-the-way-it-isn-t/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
