To add to normal day-to-day stresses, what about poor economy and war on terrorism? How many of us watch news and all of a sudden, you get a headache? As much as I find news to be a source of information, I try not to watch it everyday.

Here are some strategies that I put together that might help you right now:

Caller number two says it wasn’t nearly enough for what she did. She should be given a huge fine and more prison time.

OPINIONS VARY. WHO’S RIGHT? HOW DO YOU DECIDE?

Earlier I read an article about television censorship. The man in charge at one of studios lamented that it wasn’t like he had a list of 30 things he couldn’t say. People think there’s a list, he said, and there isn’t. That was an eye opener to me. I, too, thought he had a list! How then is he supposed to know what’s in and what’s not? How can he make this decision?

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO? THERE ARE NO RULES.

Mary Ann’s gynecologist tells her she needs a certain test, but if he orders it, insurance won’t pay. “But,” he says, “There’s a way around this. If you go to your GP…”

KNOW THE RULES SO YOU KNOW HOW TO BREAK THEM.

I GOT IT HANDLED Oops, no I don’t.

·“There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.” ~ Henry Kissinger, “NY Times Magazine, 1969, U. S. politician ·“The more things change, more they remain … insane.” ~ Michael Fry and T. Lewis, “Over Hedge,” 05.09.04

Emotional Intelligence means being able to make good decisions with limited data, decisions that require maturity and wisdom. It’s lonely there. If you ask around, as radio DJ did, you’ll get differing opinions about what’s right and wrong. When TV censor man asks around, he finds a blackhole. You’re on your own. The physician making his way through maze of managed care has to know where entry points are. It’s more than knowing medicine these days.

But pressure isn’t only at top. It’s lonely along way. Lonely and stressful.

STRESS

The Society for Neuroscience defines stress as “any external stimulus that threatens homeostasis – normal equilibrium of body function.” The most powerful stressors, they say, are “psychological and psychosocial stressors that exist between members of same species.”

That means we’re driving each other nuts! We no longer have to cope with lions and tigers, just with one another.

Some of OTHER most powerful stressors are psychological and psychosocial stressors that go on in our own brains. We’re stressed when we’re called upon to do deal with constant and increasingly rapid changes of day-to-day life, and insecurity.