Adrenaline is a good thing. It is, after all, what gets you to slam on the brakes when the car in front of you stops short or a toddler’s ball bounces into the street. I needed to remind myself recently that bodies are only designed to handle it in the small doses required to accomplish tasks and prevent me from getting hurt. Longterm, too much adrenaline wears a body down and effects every corner of it, from eyeballs to liver to heart. From eye twitching to diabetes to blood pressure. Here’s the short list of how your body is effected when it’s under constant pressure. {I didn’t know about the eyes part.}
• eyes
• ears
• esophagus
• liver
• adrenals
• bowels
• muscles
• brain
• heart
• lungs
• stomach
• groin
• skin
• blood vessels
There’s a reason to harp on stress. It’s on my mind a lot. And then, I see this list below of life’s 12 major stressors and realize how many I’ve lived through over the years. There’s been way too much time wasted being frustrated, angry, worried, frightened, annoyed, ashamed, sad, hurt, hopeless, jealous or lonely. I’m very grateful to still be here talking about it because all these negative emotions have put my body under a lot of pressure.
• Death of a family member
• Divorce
• Moving
• Major illness or injury
• Job Loss
• Jail term
• Marriage
• Relationship problems
• Financial problems
• Extreme loneliness
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Job loss
I’ve made lots of changes to my life in hopes of avoiding, eliminating or alleviating stress. One thing’s for sure, lots of anxiety would be avoided if I could better learn to accept change when things don’t go according to plan. I am getting better at this “going with the flow”, though. The internet is full of suggestions on ways to reduce stress. Meditation and laughter are my favorites because they’re both so easy to fit into an active life.
Several “calm as a cucumber” types have found their way into my life, and I always feel inspired to copycat their demeanor. But mostly, I try to remember that my body deserves respect. Where would I be without it???