Combating the Effects of StressWritten by Trevor Dumbleton
The effects of stress are many and varied and, it is now known, they are almost all entirely bad. Stress weakens system, tears down body and mind, and causes long-term health problems that have been documented in numerous studies and reports. Thus, stress is ultimately a bad thing that should be avoided. By keeping stress away, you can help ensure a lifetime of health and keep yourself from overloading your body and mind.Of all effects of stress, first and foremost is "fight or flight" response that it brings to your body. As soon as stress hits, body starts churning out hormones that set your body on edge and ready it to either fight or run. Obviously, this is pretty pointless when stress is how you are going to get your report into boss on time, but it is still there. Your mind only knows that it is under gun and threatened and it has same response for workplace stress as it does for a tiger coming at you. The human body and mind is still designed with physical danger in mind and any stress is taken to be a physical threat. Thus, body begins churning out these hormones as though you were about to be set upon by a pack of wolves. What does fight or flight response do? First, it sharpens awareness and confuses mind. Of all effects of stress, this seems most contradictory. However, it is also true. The body pumps in adrenaline, which heightens mental sharpness, and noradrenaline, which causes mind to be confused. This is a bad thing because your mind is simultaneously receiving messages to stand up and fight while it receives messages to get heck away from there. Thus, mind is clouded with indecision and this will not help you focus on what you need to get done. This response to stress also causes heart to speed up in order to pump more blood. This rise in blood pressure allows body to react stronger and more quickly in order to either fight or escape. Unfortunately, stress of everyday life is not of same sort as that of a person out in wilderness and it tends to stick around longer than threat of physical attack. Thus, what should be a short rise in blood pressure is actually dragged out over a long period of time, making heart work way too hard for long periods. This causes a rise in blood pressure which can result in increased risk of stroke or heart attack in long term.
| | Resolve +Enthusiasm = PowerWritten by Jackie Stanley
Resolve + Enthusiasm = PowerThink for a moment about highest mountain you ever climbed, deepest valley you ever crossed, or longest river you ever had to swim. Perhaps it was healing a relationship with an estranged loved one, closing a big deal at work, overcoming an addiction, surviving an illness, succeeding against odds or making what seemed like an impossible dream come true. I imagine that there were moments in process when you felt weak, became convinced you could go no further, and wanted to turn back and give up. A few years ago I decided to walk in an 18-mile marathon. At about 10-milke mark, I hit proverbial wall. Every muscle in my body ached, and I hurt in places that doctor’s don’t even have names for. I was tempted to sit down in middle of road and ask medics to carry me away on a stretcher. I thought there was no way I could make it to finish line. But I didn’t give in to my negative thoughts. What kept me going? How was I able to summon strength I needed to forge ahead? I focused my mind on how good I was going to feel when I finished what I started. And I reflected on other times in my life when I thought I had reached end of my rope, only to find strength to “tie a knot” and move on. I finished marathon – and experience of almost giving up taught me that deeper we have to reach inside ourselves to succeed, greater our sense of accomplishment.
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