Dealing with Stress

Sometimes, I tend to be an eensy-weensy bit resistant to changing how I act. The bottom line is that I, like most folks, really do like my habits. I complain about them and tell others I'll change (more to get them off my back than for anything else). I do recognize that they might not always be the healthiest patterns, but - you know - they're warm and cozy and make it so I don't have to think so much, which takes loads of energy. Therefore, it's easier to pour a glass of wine, put on reality TV, and turn away from my thoughts than it is to anxiously ruminate on everything requiring adjusting. Besides, I rationalize, there's always tomorrow, isn't there?

Yet, once in a while, something crashes through that dense wall of denial and I can no longer avoid looking.

Today, at a very powerful, presentation, I learned that the three leading causes of death in the U.S. in 1900 (Pneumonia, Influenza, and Tuberculosis) are not even in the top five 100 years later (heart disease, Cancer, and stroke). In effect, over the span of an extended lifetime, our biggest health concerns have shifted from being "attacked from the outside" to being "attacked from the inside." That's a powerful bit of data.

Part of the reason is that we are now under constant, unending, on-going, chronic stress. Sure, we're not fighting off saber-tooth tigers anymore; but we pay too many bills with too few dollars, or we attempt too many things with too little time, or both, or more. Our body can't perceive the difference between "saber-tooth tiger stress" and the "IRS is on the phone for you" stress. All it understands is that something is a kilter; we are under pressure. (Whether the stress is caused by actual or perceived events makes no difference; we respond the same.)

Couple that fact with the detail that our modern diet is so out of whack that nutritionists refer to it as "hyper inflammatory." That means that when threatened, our body throws the preverbal kitchen sink at almost any problem. Instead of marshalling a couple of "antibiotic soldiers" to quell a minor disturbance, it delivers an entire, heavily-armed, fully equipped battalion. Once the threat has been eliminated, those extra soldiers hang around with nothing to do - except leave waste products. Blend that with our constant stress-level, and well, we've got bunkers of waste-producing soldiers camped out all over our insides, lining our cells with all sorts of unnecessary non-disposable nasties.

Since stress is beyond our control, we cannot dispel it and send the soldiers on leave. Rather, we can only disarm the situation by thinking differently, moving more, and changing how we eat.

Here's where today's talk made its impact on me. Eric, the presenter, offered clear, easy-to-implement ideas to begin to reverse the course. Take some Fish Oil, increase Vitamin D, drink Green Tea now and then. He was honest; it's not a panacea; it's merely a few doable actions that can improve one's heath. They are things I can do right now - and I did.

Not only are simple ideas usually the best, but, now knowing what I've learned, they don't stress me out as much as doing nothing.