Me, Myself & I

It's been a long time since I have posted on here. When I told myself, "hey, even if you don't write more than quarterly it's better than nothing!" Hm. more like bi-annually at this rate. In any case, the last few months has been a roller coaster in many departments. Stress. Stress, stress & more stress. Seems to be a semi-permanent state lately. I know I need to deal with it in a healthy way, but finding that way & diligently adhering to it is another thing all together. I think this is a problem that many people face.

Originally, I thought that stress was simply not trusting in God, taking burdens upon me which simply were His to carry. I think that to a point this is true, but stress is much more than that. We weren't designed to live in a world of continual stimulation -sound, electronic devices, increasingly heavy workloads, alarm clocks that yank us from bed while still dark -and I am really starting to notice the effects that it's having on me.

Balance is another word that typically comes up in conversations about stress. What does that mean for me? I am commencing on a journey right now to see how I can identify stress & limit it in my life. Also, to combat the effects of it I hope to make a list of things that "counter" the effects of it. 

I recently watched a documentary by National Geographic called, "Stress -Portrait of a killer." It talks about how animals only use the stress or fight/flight reaction when in dire situations -for example a zebra being chased by a lion activates this fight/flight reaction, but it turns off when the ordeal is over & the zebra safe. We create psychological stresses  in our minds that keep stimulating us, there is simply no break from them. The long term effects of stress were also looked at in this film, including digestive, cardiac & immune system problems, weight gain, etc etc. There was a study done of caretakers (primarily moms) of special-needs kids & I was surprised to learn that for every year they care for their special needs child, the amount of stress incurred erases approx. 6 years from their life. That's crazy!

I need to take care of myself so that I can take care of the family God has blessed me with. Not a super-spiritual message, but a much needed one -if only to myself!