Stressing Out

How do you handle stress? Do you hide from it? Bury you head in the sand? Or do you face your stress head on? The answer to these questions believe it or not affects your health. So many diseases and conditions are caused by stress and several more diseases and conditions are effected by stress. It is crucial that you learn to handle your stress as best you possibly can. It may be as simple as doing some meditation and yoga to keep you calm, or it may require a stronger approach such as therapy and/or  medication. Whatever the case may be you will have to find the right tool, for you to maintain a healthy level of stress in your life. Its like buying a pair of shoes, you have to find the right fit to propel yourself  forward comfortably.

I used to be able to handle stress by counting to ten, or having a crying jag. Crying to me was like pressure release valve, once I spewed I was OK. But as my stresses changed so did my techniques for handling stress. I did exercises and walking for a while, then my role at my job changed. It  increased my stress enormously, and yet again I tried to handle my stress and didn't do very well at all, and it began to take its toll on me physically and mentally. Unfortunately this time I was smoking and having cocktails on the weekends and none of which were really helping only exacerbating the problem with my diabetes. I took a step back, and from some persuasion from my employer I quit smoking, changed my position at work and started to slow down. By the time I figured out that the money and stress I was getting was no longer worth what I was going through physically it was too late. Four months later I was diagnosed with kidney failure. A month after that I was told I needed a  kidney transplant and another month later I was told I needed the pancreas transplant as well.

So you see not managing my stress made me lose control of my life and let the stress affect me physically and mentally. After dealing with the stress and learning new techniques I'm handling my stresses and my stress much better and it has benefited me physically as well as mentally.I'm not saying that stress is the only reason that all this  happened it was just a big part of it and often times was overlooked by me and my physicians.

Get a handle on your stress, and don't let the everyday overwhelm you. My stress regime now includes a combination of things. I use medication, therapy, meditation and this blog to handle my stress and so far I'm doing OK!! Find the right fit to propel yourself forward and you will be surprised at what you can do when stress is not an issue.