Stress
“Stress is nothing more than a
socially acceptable form of mental illness”
~Richard Carlson~
Today I learned that a friend had died suddenly, 63 years old. Ate well, knew all about good health, and it seemed upon first glance that she took care of herself, but she was stressed to the hilt most of the time. Busy at work, worried about family, caring for others and forgetting to take care of herself and live by the rule..."don't sweat the small stuff, and its all small stuff".
Her stress is probably what killed her, robbed her family of more precious years. She would not be one to go to a spa for a weekend, or sit and relax. She was a devout Christian but seemed to miss the part in Matthew where Jesus tells people not to worry. It is a major aspect of a peaceful life, to not worry.
Admittedly, I work hard, but I relax with the same kind of enthusiasm and I meditate every single day. The deep breathing kind of meditation that slows your pulse to a snails pace. I don't worry very often either. Why, its not like my worry will change things. I love what the Dalai Lama said about worry...“If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.” Well there you have it, a recipe for avoiding the stress of worrying.
It bothered me a great deal today when I heard of this woman's passing. I think its the first person in our age group, Emery's and mine, to die from something other than cancer or an accident. Stress takes time to kill us, it builds to a toxic level, a deadly level. We all have the power to change being stressed. Its a spiritual condition to me, one where we try to do it all ourselves and leave God out of the equation. Its a control issue maybe. Time to let go and accept that life is not perfect, your children are not perfect, your house is not perfect, you are not perfect and for certain the world isn't. We can work on being better people but we can do that by letting go of holding on so tight that we squeeze the very life out of ourselves.
Melanie, very unstressed and enjoying the moment
Comments
I have been under so much stress and cannot find anytime to "destress" No money for a month, hubby found out he was laid off today, my mom's stomach issues, kid issues "I want my own bedroom" "keep him out of here" "she's in my stuff" and it's mostly my 11yo ds.
Just hearing this makes me want/need to destress. I know my bp has gone up a bit in the past 3 years. Not much but I have noticed. So I need to lose weight and destress.
Jo Lynn
1. I love to write and since starting up my blog again, I've found a peace. It's wierd.
2. I want to learn! Photography, HTML, web design, etc.
3. I really enjoy being behind a lens and cannot wait until I can purchase that so longed for DSLR. Until then, I find the beauty in the images I capture on my current camera....blurry or not. I am finally able to see the little things. The things I rushed by too often.
Okay - off the topic, but that quilt is beautiful. That's another thing I want to learn to do in 2009.
This is a wonderful post ,we all should take time to slow down and enjoy life more.
Happy Earth Day!
Blessins',Lib
I was very down some years ago, for several months, and I could FEEL how bad that was to my body. It scared me - I could tell this depression was dangerous to my system. The mental pain slowly lifted, and I am grateful for it - I knew I would be healthy in body as well as in mind.
I try to keep that experience in mind, and reading your blog sometimes is the best reminder to slow down and bless the moment. Thanks.
Your words are so true. It's so much better to just let things go. I'm constantly telling my kids to "Breath in, breath out, relax." when the get stressed out or too upset over something.
When we had three bother and sisters in law die within three months of each other-all in their late 50's- we started a new look at our lives.
We took a concerted effort to destress.
Still working on it!
At least we live somewhere green!!!