All of us have stress. Nowadays our lives seem to be on a fast track going nowhere. Our jobs require us to learn new skills. As soon as we get comfortable with our new skills, we have to learn newer ones. Our families require more help than ever, expenses are rising and income is not keeping up with the rising costs. Our government on all levels is giving us two gifts, fear and despair.
Our children are at risk because of terrorists for many different reasons. We hear lies everyday on the news. We are bombarded by stressful programs and commercials on television.
We are connected by the umbilical cord of the cell phone to constant reminding of business we need to take care of and obligations that are not met.According to Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary, Here is the definition of stress:.Etymology: Middle English stresse stress, short for destresse or distress. A physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation; a state resulting from a stress; especially : one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium.Two things to consider about stress are, stress may cause physical or mental tension that may be a factor in disease causation and stress may alter an "existent equilibrium.
".Flight or Fight.We have all heard of the "flight or fight" reaction to stress. When confronted with extreme danger we desire to run or to stand and fight. Our mouths become dry, and more blood pumps to the larger muscles of our body to accommodate using our legs to run, (flight) and our arms to protect ourselves from harm.
(Fight).In the beginning.Think about our forefathers and foremothers.
Long ago, in the distant past we were hunter-gatherers.I live in Northern Arizona and have visited ancient indigenous people's homes and villages. Usually the women lived inside caves or cliff dwellings, and spent the day watching young children and grinding corn or other grains in order to create food.The men walked through the forest or plains during the day, hunting for food. As the men moved through the forest or valleys below the communities they would pick berries off of trees or eat bark or grass or whatever they felt like eating.
Imagine that you are a primitive man living in this area at the time. You begin to walk away from your village. You feel calm and confident as you hunt and gather for the day.As you are walking down the path you are relaxed and confident.
You are experiencing an existent equilibrium. You are on a familiar path. You look at familiar trees and rocks along the way. The sun and the clouds are where they are supposed to be. The smell of the rocks and trees in the forest are very familiar. You feel the warm breeze across your skin and your hair blowing in the wind.
Everything is exactly as it should be.Then a Saber Tooth Tiger dashes out of the woods and chases you across the plains.How do you think you will feel the next time you walk down that same beautiful path leading you out of your village?.Will you feel the same equilibrium you felt before or will all of your senses be on alert?.Will the physical symptoms of stress replace the calm demeanor that previously occupied your mind and body?.When you leave your home to go to your job everyday, you have an existent equilibrium.
The building is in the same place as you left it the night before. Your boss is the same man or woman you count on to be there when you arrive at the office tomorrow. Your income is the expected income you have received for quite some time, with very few surprises.
You have the same co-workers you like and respect working around you. Your desk, telephone and computer are exactly the same as you have been accustomed to. The sights, smells, sounds and feelings about your job are your existent equilibrium.Today will be a different day.Did you ever get laid off or fired from a job? Did a business you were working at for several months or several years, all of a sudden close down? Was your group eliminated within a large corporation and you were told you were expendable?.
These scenarios happen to workers across the United States and across the world every day.Now there is no building to commute to every day. Your familiar boss is no longer counted on to be at the place where you are going to spend the bulk of your day. Your income is not going to be what you counted on yesterday. Your co-workers are all gone. No desk, no telephone, no computer and no agenda to occupy your day.
Your sights, smells sounds and feelings, your existent equilibrium have vanished.Your body acts out on the resulting loss of equilibrium. Your body acts in the same flight or fight reaction as it would if your cave was being attacked by vicious animals.Get out the Cheesecake.
Back in the 1970s, there was a television show called Golden Girls. The show was about four senior citizen women and their relationships. Usually after a bad relationship was uncovered or some other stressful event was experienced by any one of the four women, one woman would exclaim, "I'll get out the cheesecake.
" Then, the other three women would gobble up cheesecake, usually late at night.Cheesecake acted as a comfort food for stress. Although it appears innocent on the outside, cheesecake can add on lots of weight, especially eaten before going to bed at night.It also reinforces the habit of eating to feed stress rather than eating to eliminate stress.
If you feel stress and eat, you begin to reinforce stress in your body rather than sending it from your body.What is so bad about stress? It gives me an edge on my job, right?.Many people think that stress gives them a competitive edge on the job. While they may experience some gain in production, stress will cause more physical problems that may result in disability that will take the productive worker out of the job for days, months or permanently.When I was growing up, I used to hear the phrase, "work never killed anyone.
" That phrase is not true today.The following is a list of identifiable illnesses and conditions triggered by stress:.Pain
Anxiety
Premenstrual syndrome
High blood pressure
Sleep disorders
High cholesterol
Diabetes
Infertility
Panic disorders
Psoriasis
Headaches
ADHD
Arthritis
Fibromyalgia.Do you suffer from any of these afflictions? .Many adults suffer from several. Stress is becoming out of control.
Many people take drugs for the stress symptoms, like headaches or anxiety, but few people work on how to combat the basic causes of stress.You will find as a byproduct of stress reduction, you will achieve many personal goals in your life that you felt unachievable Later in the instruction I will explain why that happens.Summary:.Stress involves two things. Stress may be a cause of disease and stress upsets our existent equilibrium.
Pain, arthritis, and headaches can result from too much stress.
.Wayne F. Perkins has over 30 years experience as a public speaker/trainer and a hypnotist. Let Wayne help you achieve the success you deserve.Call Wayne at: 602-647-4280 to arrange for a one-on-one consulting session over the phone. Wayne will speak at your business and help your teams reduce stress and achieve their goals, http://www.waynespeaking.com.
By: Wayne Perkins
