Living with Stress and Anxiety
“May you live in interesting times.” —Ancient Chinese Curse
Paula got that message in a fortune cookie many years ago, and she thinks it has proven to be true. Interesting is one thing, but with all that goes on in our lives, it can be downright stressful; I got stressed just trying to find out who actually said that quote. There are several theories, but no one really knows for sure.
I just had an endoscopy/colonoscopy last week. The most difficult part? It wasn’t the prep, which stresses out many people—it was the potential results that stressed me out. I had three polyps last time and was diagnosed with Barrett’s esophagus. Were things better or had they progressed? The results turned out fine with a couple of polyps removed, but that didn’t reduce the anxiety of waiting.
We live in stressful times. The price of food—heck, the price of everything. Proposed healthcare cuts: you find out that your healthcare plan just increased your annual contribution before insurance kicks in just when you need a new roof or car repairs. And then there’s the whole issue of politics and most likely hundreds of other scenarios in our lives. You can just feel your heart rate and blood pressure rise. Who knows what else is going on that may be damaging your body, from your brain to your kidneys? We try to shield our kids, but they have their own stressors, as well as picking up on adult anxiety.
A recent study tested a theory of how to deal with this stress and anxiety. I’ll cover that on Saturday. Hang in there until then.
What are you prepared to do today?
