Stress

© 2011 Constance Hobbs. All rights reserved.

Last night I was exhausted. I sat down in front of the tv about 9 or 10, can't remember and watched this science program about stress. It was a National Geographic special. The research came out of Stanford by way of Robert Sapolsky. He is Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University. He's an expert in studying prolonged stress and it's impact on health. Well, the picture is rather frightening. Through chronic stress we actually wear away the ends of our chromosomes, impair our immune systems and die much sooner. Stress management is much more important then I realized. Just because everyone else is stressed doesn't mean I have to be. We can separate ourselves and decide to relax. Mindfulness is certainly one way to do that. Not to run on autopilot all the time. Living in ones head is not a prescription for happiness. I think competition generates a lot of stress and Americans are competitive. We certainly inherit that from Sopolsky's baboons. We are always concerned with getting someplace, somewhere, aquiring this or that, instead of enjoying the now. Taking it slow and having some faith in the future. We can't have it all right away. Things take time. That's just a fact. So, take a deep breath, look around and be confident that if you are in a bad place, this too shall pass.