Is your life so busy you have to schedule appointments for time with your family weeks
ahead? Are you are always playing catch up? Do you feel as if you are behind the eight
ball CONSTANTLY? Is there no time left for the things you like to do after everyone and
everything else is taken care of? And, when you finally fall into bed, exhausted, are your
eyes closed but your mind is wide open?
I’ve been there and done that. And, got sick. My choice was to change or be miserable,
physically, mentally and emotionally. Back then I did not even know what spirituality was!In 1973, just 15 months after I graduated from college, I was promoted to supervisor of
the Microbiology/Serology section of the laboratory at a recently opened, mid-sized,
metropolitan hospital. “Wow! This is great!” or so I thought. The two technologists who
worked with me were both the same ages as me. They decided I could not know
anything more than them, so they decided they did not have to listen to me. This upset
me, as I was taught to respect position power. And, more importantly, patient’s lives
were potentially at stake when tests were left undone. The director of the lab was not
supportive or sympathetic, saying “What do you expect, Nancy? You’re working with all
women!”
As time passed, I developed a severe pain in my left side. Several generations of my
family had gall bladder disease, I assumed that what it was. The tests did not confirm
that diagnosis, or any other. And, the pain worsened. More tests showed no conclusive cause and the prescribed medication did nothing to alleviate the pain. Meanwhile, the tension increased in the department.
After six months and 10 pounds lost, my husband encouraged me to look elsewhere for
employment. “I’m not a quitter!” I told him, and bull doggedly pushed on. After 9 months
and another 8 pounds lost ( not my recommended way of losing weight!) I knew
something needed to change. Not realizing I was my own worst enemy, I chose to go to
a new doctor. Before even examining me, he welcomed me into his office and asked me
what was happening in my life. After listening to my sad saga, this wise man told me I
could persist in being stubborn, and miserable, or be willing to request and
receiv support from my boss, or look for a job at a different lab. He explained to me that the mind causing my physical pain. This was quite a lot to understand back in the mid 1970’s!
I faced a tough decision. Stay in my supervisory position in a lab close to home, or move to a new laboratory. I chose to resign. That is when I learned God works in wonderful ways! The good news is the ringleader was fired after giving positive test results to a friend. Amazingly enough, within one week of her absence, the pain in my side was gone and my appetite returned.
What is this thing called Stress? It is the body’s response to any demand put on it –
positive and negative. Marriage can be just as stressful as divorce. The birth of a child
may be just as challenging to adjust to as the loss of a loved one. And, losing a job is
often no more difficult than adjusting to a new one.
Statistics - 80% of dis-ease states today are life style related!!! A VA medical center
study found overall life stress increased by 45% in the past 40 years. Sixty six percent of out patient visits to doctors are now stress related. Seventy-six percent of survey
respondents rate their work environment as either stressful or very stressful. And, 69%
say high stress levels reduce their productivity.
Stress is very expensive. An estimated one million people skip work on any given day
because of stress!!! Unscheduled absenteeism is up 255% in past year alone!!!!
The most important fact to remember is that stress is only a symptom. It is a warning
signal that something is not in balance in our lives. Think back to your college days.
When did you most often get a cold or the flu? For most of us, it was at exam time or just
before a major project was due. Unless we change what is causing the discomfort, we
most often get sick.
Think about where stress shows up in your body. Some of us get tension headaches
that start at the base of our skull and expand over the entire head, feeling like a vice
clamp. Others feel it in their shoulders, stomach, back or breathing. Silent symptoms
include increased blood fats, colitis, hypertension, periodontal dis-ease and many
others.
Stress often occurs when we feel as if we do not or cannot control the events and circumstances in our lives. We cannot always control what happens in life, but we ALWAYS are able to control our response. It is always a CHOICE. Taking charge of the stress in YOUR life is a struggle only because we think it to be so.
Because stress occurs every day it is important to develop coping mechanisms. My
recommendations include:
- Eliminate the stress, or change your response to it (remember the Serenity Prayer?)
- Use coping resources available to you
- Develop new coping resources
Stress management is really life management. One of the best ways to cope is to
balance your life. What are the three most important things in your life? How much time
do you spend on/with them? Are you on the list?
The first thing I always hear from people is s/he does not have enough time to take care
of himself/herself or to do the things s/he really enjoy doing. Yet, the average American
spends 15 hours/week watching TV, 6.5 hours socializing with family and friends,
two hours reading and 2.2 hours playing sports/exercising. Do your values and priorities
match where you are spending your time? Pay attention and make adjustments as
necessary, either in what you say your values are, or how you spend your time. If you do not take care of yourself, you are not and will not be available to take care of others.
I am going to suggest ways to put more balance in the physical aspects of
your life. My first recommendation is to put more SEX in your life!!! Yep, you read right. Before you x-rate this article, let me quickly explain SEX is an acronym for Sleep/Eating
nutritiously/eXercising.
We are a Sleep-deprived nation. Ever since Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, we
have been losing sleep. We ignore the natural body rhythms, both daily and seasonally.
Animals are much smarter than we are. When it gets dark, they go to sleep. If you feel
drowsy any time during the day, you are not getting enough sleep. Studies show as
adults we need 7-8 hours of sleep every night to be at our physical and mental peak.
And, going to bed early is good for us – each hour of sleep before midnight equals two hours after midnight. According to Dr. William Dement at Stanford University, sleep is the most important factor in our health. By obtaining sufficient sleep, you will see dramatic decreases in your stress and improvement in your health. Sweet dreams!
Eating nutritiously – recent studies have shown that although we have reduced our
blood fat levels, as a nation we have gained eight pounds in the past 10 years! We have
been fooled into thinking fat is the culprit. True, too much saturated fat is not good for us.
Avoiding fat, we have replaced it with carbohydrates. Too many of them. A typical plate
of pasta served in a restaurant is 4-5 servings and 4-5 times the calories we need from one meal! The cookies we eat may not have any fat in them, but they have much sugar.
My sister’s obstetrician told her when she was pregnant not to eat anything that came
out of a box, bag or can. Great advice! Too many of these items have no nutritional
value to them. Processing of food takes much of the oxygen out. Oxygen is what gives
us energy, which is why we should be eating in the first place. Take the little extra time
to prepare fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. And, skip the drive through/take out
options. Your body will thank you with more energy and vitality.
Always read labels – a four-ounce serving of canned soup typically contains 35% of your daily sodium allowance. Most of us have 10-12 ounces per bowl or mug of soup! Soft drinks have NO nutritional value. Diet soft drinks are laden with sodium (the taste has to come from something!) and many fruit juices are only 35% juice. The rest is sugar and water!
Begin to drink more water. We become dehydrated indoors due to poor ventilation and
dryness. This leads to fatigue. Think about how much you weigh. Divide that number by
two. That is the minimum number of ounces of H2O you need everyday. Just don’t drink
it all right before bed!!! Drinking sufficient water also decreases headaches, increases
weight loss, improves your complexion and prevents colon cancer in women. If your skin
is itchy, especially for those of us in the cold north, moisturize from the inside out with
water!!! Coffee, tea and colas do not count in the total. In fact, caffeine is a diuretic – it
actually removes H2O from body!
And, Mom was right. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Don’t skip or scrimp on it. Our bodies need fuel to perform well. That is why it is named break fast!
eXercise – If we could bottle it, we would replace 90% of over the counter medications we take. Physical exercise is the only way to keep our immune system circulating. Not only is aerobic exercise good for our circulatory system and heart, it keeps us from getting sick.
Many people tell me exercising is stressful. I recommend making exercise fun by
remembering what you liked to do as a kid. I rekindle my child-like joy by rollerblading.
Exercise outdoors whenever possible. This decreases stress hormones, refreshes more.
Learn to make exercising a part of everyday life. Five to ten minutes at a time has been
shown to be just as effective as 30-45 minutes at one time. Find ways to put 5-10 minutes of movement into your day, every day. Involve the whole family. My husband and I spent much precious time together as we trained to walk a marathon.
It’s time to take action. You are the only one that can control your life and the amount of
stress in it. We always have choices. Choose now to create a realistic action plan for
yourself. Imagine it is one year from now. Your vision has become a reality. What are you doing differently than today? What did you have to change to get here??? Write it down – then commit to it. Be prepared to be more energetic and creative. It’s your choice!
Nancy Riesz, MBA, is an inter-personal effectiveness expert who teaches people to work together…better. Through her presentations, seminars, coaching and writing she teaches people that have just been promoted the skills they need to thrive in their new position. Nancy can be reached at: Nancy@SuccessCatalyst.com. Or
www.SuccessCatalyst.com
Nancy Riesz
