An image of Chicago. A survey by Harris Interactive found Chicago is the most stressed city in the nation.
Striving to attain that perfect life, work balance? You're not alone, but if you live in Chicago you're more unlikely to find it with residents of the Windy City the most stressed in the United states.
A survey by Harris Interactive found Chicago is the most stressed city in the nation, followed Houston, Boston, Los Angeles and San Diego, while Miami is the least stressed, along with Dallas/Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Cincinnati and Minneapolis.
"It is (due) to a combination of different things. There wasn't one thing that made Chicago stand out but they were the ones who had the least attainment of life balance," Harris Interactive spokeswoman Regina Corso told reporters.
"In other cities, some by leaps and bounds, their residents have managed to attain some level (of life balance)."
Washington DC, despite its concentration of politicians and high-powered wheeler-dealers, came 12th in the poll of 25 cities, ahead of New York at No. 17 but lower than Denver, San Francisco, Tampa or Seattle on the stress scale.
"I expected to see a different order," admitted Corso. "But maybe people in Chicago are trying to do too much."
She attributed Miami's low stress levels to its proximity to the sea, warm weather and laid back attitude.
Nearly three quarters of Americans questioned in the Life Balance Barometer Survey commissioned by Princess Cruises said they have not discovered how to juggle work and personal priorities, but 53 percent believe they could achieve it in the next five years.
Financial pressure was the leading cause of stress among the 1,539 people questioned in the online poll, with getting fit and losing weight coming a close second, followed by failing to complete the to-do list and concerns about unemployment.
Although more than half of Americans said they want to get fit, only 17 percent used exercise to relieve stress.
The most popular methods to calm down at the end of the day were changing clothes, laying down, kissing a spouse or partner, playing with a pet and reading a book or magazine.
Vocabulary:
Windy City：风城，指芝加哥。早在1886年，Windy City(芝加哥)的说法就已被媒体接受，而且，当时所言的windy绝无贬抑之意，而是特指芝加哥的宜人气候。每到夏季，湖区凉风阵阵，芝加哥成为美国人的避暑好去处，Windy City(风城)由此得名。
stand out: 引人注目，脱颖而出
by leaps and bounds：very rapidly(飞跃地，非常迅速地)
high-powered：having great power or energy; dynamic(有权势的;精力旺盛的)
wheeler-dealer：one who advances one's own interests by canny, aggressive, or unscrupulous behavior(商界或政界的工于心计的人，进行复杂交易的人)
laid back：free from stress; easygoing; carefree(无忧无虑的，随和的)
juggle：to manage or alternate the requirements of (two or more tasks, responsibilities, activities, etc.) so as to handle each adequately(尽力同时应对，同时做)
你一直在追求生活和工作的完美平衡?不止你一人这样想。但如果你生活在芝加哥，这一美好的愿望可能较难实现。据调查，这座“风城”是美国压力最大的城市。
哈里斯互动调查公司开展的一项调查发现，芝加哥是美国压力最大的城市，休斯敦、波士顿、洛杉矶和圣地亚哥位居其后。而迈阿密则是美国压力最小的城市，达拉斯/沃思堡、拉斯维加斯、辛辛那提和明尼阿波利斯也在此列。
哈里斯互动调查公司的女发言人雷吉娜 柯索在接受记者采访时说：“这是多方面因素造成的。并不是某一个因素造成了这一结果，但芝加哥人的生活平衡程度最低。”
“在其它一些城市，当地居民能够在工作和生活之间达到一定程度的平衡，其中有些还是飞速发展的城市。”
尽管华盛顿是政界和商界精英的聚集地，但该市在25个受调查城市中中仅列第12位，位于纽约之前(第17位)，但在丹佛、旧金山、坦帕以及西雅图之后。
柯索称：“我没想到是这样的一个结果，但也许芝加哥人太努力了。”
她认为，迈阿密之所以压力小，可能与它靠海，气候温暖以及当地人悠闲的生活态度有关。
近四分之三的美国受访者称他们还没找到兼顾工作和生活的好办法，但53%的受访者称自己可以在五年内实现这一目标。这项“生活平衡晴雨表调查”由美国“公主邮轮公司”委托开展。
共有1539人参加了该在线调查。经济压力被认为是导致压力的主因，保健和减肥紧随其后，没完成计划以及担心失业次之。
尽管半数以上的美国人称想要强身健体，但仅有17%的受访者通过锻炼减压。
在一天的劳累之后，人们常通过这些方法放松：如换衣服、躺下休息、亲吻伴侣或爱人、和宠物玩耍或看看书和杂志。