Stressed or De-Stressed?

What is stress? No, really what is stress? I know what it does…. Stress can make you sick. Stress can make you fat. Stress can exhaust you and give you insomnia. Stress can provoke you to eat and eat and eat. Stress can make you mean, sad or even a bit crazy. Being stressed and overwhelmed leaves you feeling completely out of control of your own life. Maybe stress is the reason the term “beside yourself” came about.

What really sucks about stress is that it is simply the mind communicating to the body. Overload, overload – Danger Will Robinson, Danger. (Now I’m dating myself, eh?) Stress is what the body does when it fails to listen to the mind. If I really paid attention and was tuned into my mind-body connection I would hear that first warning of danger. Of course then I would have to take appropriate action to immediately eliminate the stressful situation. However, that is so NOT the case these days. Nope, lately, I seem to be walking around with my head so far up….. so for far up, okay let’s say the clouds, that I have completely disconnected my mind and body.

I tend to invite and welcome stress into my life. You do not need to be a shrink, a doctor or even Oprah to know that this is not a good thing. It is most important for me to have my head in tact on my shoulders with the ability to communicate. Especially since I am on this mission of “finding me” and making sure I am a smaller version when I do locate myself. It’s like I have to work hard to NOT hear myself and this is not in line with my personal mission statement.

In some twisted way this habit of inviting stress into my life must have started with some form of self preservation that went haywire along the way. In line with the detrimental behavior of comfort eating, stress worked its way in, settled down and has become a regular resident in my life. So what do I do? Is there a specific stress eliminator action to take? Other than the stuff like Yoga, massage, spiritual practices, etc., which are all wonderful. However, with a bit of thought these are aids to help deal with the stress. What I am interested in is reducing and eventually eliminating the stress.

I say its time for me (and maybe you too) to take control of my own life. Clear the calendar! Practice and learn how to say no! It’s okay to say yes to me. I honestly believe taking away some of my commitments is the first and most necessary step towards my mission. I had began this process, I just don’t think I truly understood how important it is to the overall success of me finding me.

NOTE TO SELF: No changes can be permanent if I still am living a stressful life.