We modern Bostonians do work hard to achieve our goals. And then once the goals are achieved, there is a sense of satisfaction about the achievements. This is a great thing. Miraculous accomplishments that we have in our lives (such as, for example, working plumbing) would not exist without our abilities to have goals and to achieve goals. It is also clear from media articles, medical reports and our own experiences that there is a side effect to having and achieving so many of the modern goals that we have: stress . During my meetings with MBSR applicants, I have been hearing them say, "I have a goal to reduce my stress." And I have been hearing the ways in which these folks have been addressing this goal. Because it works well for achieving their other life goals, they have been approaching stress reduction in the same way that they might approach the goal to fix their own sink. They read about it. They take classes. They consult with experts. They ...