STRESS
What is it? How do you experience it?
Stress seems to be both a physical and an emotional reaction to a situation where the mind senses danger or a threat. The older I get the more I experience anxieties. Because I was so good at identifying risks and threats, I was very good at my job which was underwriting liability insurance risks. Unfortunately I have not been able to turn off this skill since retirement.
It doesn't matter what someone says, my mind jumps to the hazards. Will the elevator break down, will a car run a red light, will I get food poisoning, will I spill paint, will there be an earthquake or natural disaster, will the plane crash, will I die, or worse, will I live to be a demented senior in a care home that doesn't care?
When I feel severe stress, my body reacts physically. I can shake, sweat, hear my heart pounding, feel disoriented. My thoughts fly around inside my brain like a tornado. I do not want to be medicated.
What is the best way to handle stress?
I have a couple of coping mechanisms. Firstly I often picture myself at a date or time after the stressful event. When anticipating delivery of my child, I focused on what we would be doing together one month after his arrival. This would be a time when we were in a routine, my body would be healed, we could all relax and enjoy the experience. In fact, the inevitability of needing this small person occupying my body to be removed, meant it was out of my control. This leads me to copying mechanism number two.
Don't worry about things you cannot control. I plan really hard to make my life as safe as possible. Once I get on an airplane, it is the job of the pilot to get us safely to our destination. No amount of worrying will change the outcome so I try to sit back and enjoy the ride. This does not mean that I unbuckle my seat belt. I am safer buckled up so that is how I stay.
A small amount of stress keeps us alive. It is important to experience stress to really appreciate calm.
Contrast makes life interesting. Stress can excite and energize. If I am talking in front of a group, stress gives me energy to perform better. It is like the excitement and dread of meeting a new person. Will they like me? Will I like them? Will we have anything in common? Will one of us be boring?
A wasted life is one that is not lived. I know others who are constantly experiencing new adventures. I am a home body. I like my nest. I like my friends and family. I try new things, repeat old familiar things, and I will not be disappointed when I leave this earth. Sometimes people disappoint me and sometimes I disappoint others. There is no right nor wrong. People grow together and they grow apart. Interests change. Politeness is a lost art. I try to treat others as I would want to be treated.
In order to live a healthy life, I will do everything in my power to keep my stress to a minimum. I believe part of the cause of my cancer was stress. So if you think I will agree to being under extreme stress and not react to eliminate it, you are wrong. I am a survivor!
What is it? How do you experience it?
Stress seems to be both a physical and an emotional reaction to a situation where the mind senses danger or a threat. The older I get the more I experience anxieties. Because I was so good at identifying risks and threats, I was very good at my job which was underwriting liability insurance risks. Unfortunately I have not been able to turn off this skill since retirement.
It doesn't matter what someone says, my mind jumps to the hazards. Will the elevator break down, will a car run a red light, will I get food poisoning, will I spill paint, will there be an earthquake or natural disaster, will the plane crash, will I die, or worse, will I live to be a demented senior in a care home that doesn't care?
When I feel severe stress, my body reacts physically. I can shake, sweat, hear my heart pounding, feel disoriented. My thoughts fly around inside my brain like a tornado. I do not want to be medicated.
What is the best way to handle stress?
I have a couple of coping mechanisms. Firstly I often picture myself at a date or time after the stressful event. When anticipating delivery of my child, I focused on what we would be doing together one month after his arrival. This would be a time when we were in a routine, my body would be healed, we could all relax and enjoy the experience. In fact, the inevitability of needing this small person occupying my body to be removed, meant it was out of my control. This leads me to copying mechanism number two.
Don't worry about things you cannot control. I plan really hard to make my life as safe as possible. Once I get on an airplane, it is the job of the pilot to get us safely to our destination. No amount of worrying will change the outcome so I try to sit back and enjoy the ride. This does not mean that I unbuckle my seat belt. I am safer buckled up so that is how I stay.
A small amount of stress keeps us alive. It is important to experience stress to really appreciate calm.
Contrast makes life interesting. Stress can excite and energize. If I am talking in front of a group, stress gives me energy to perform better. It is like the excitement and dread of meeting a new person. Will they like me? Will I like them? Will we have anything in common? Will one of us be boring?
A wasted life is one that is not lived. I know others who are constantly experiencing new adventures. I am a home body. I like my nest. I like my friends and family. I try new things, repeat old familiar things, and I will not be disappointed when I leave this earth. Sometimes people disappoint me and sometimes I disappoint others. There is no right nor wrong. People grow together and they grow apart. Interests change. Politeness is a lost art. I try to treat others as I would want to be treated.
In order to live a healthy life, I will do everything in my power to keep my stress to a minimum. I believe part of the cause of my cancer was stress. So if you think I will agree to being under extreme stress and not react to eliminate it, you are wrong. I am a survivor!
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