Tuesday 22 May 2012

David Bowie

Not everyone is capable of changing. Not everyone notices when things change. No one likes change, but everything is relative. Everything is transitional. Everything is always changing.

Change is not bad or good, it just is. It is how the change is perceived that makes it positive or negative. Change elicits stress in people. Like pain - people have different stress tolerance levels. Some people can handle more stress than others, and some handle different types of stress better than others, but there is always a "breaking point" for everyone when it comes to stress.

I recently completed a stress evaluation. This was a simple test where a numeric value was assigned to various "changes" going on in your life. The average person has a stress number between 65-75. Mine was 710!

Am I tell you this so you will feel bad for me? Not at all. Again, change is not good or bad, it just is. The last 2 years of my life have been nothing but continuous change. Separation, moving, divorce, moving, losing weight, illness, going back to school, losing weight, changes at work...well you get the picture.
Each and every change in my life has brought stress. Even though most of the changes have been positive I still need to 'learn' to adjust to this new way of living. Once a change takes place life as I know it is never the same. I am now clearly understanding why my doctors have been telling me to "slow down" or to "not take on so much". Sometimes stability is the best medicine. 

Unfortunately I am an extreme person. I have 2 speeds - stop and fast forward. While I have been trying to find a nice middle ground I often find that the 'ho hum' approach to things causes me to "stall out". So again - I am trying different things - I am now keeping a schedule!

You would think that a logical, methodical person like myself would love a schedule - think again - but this time I think it is working. I can fill up all the days on the calendar with an activity, but each activity is different - so I am not 'burning' myself out with one thing. This month has been my trial run and so far so good. Stability here I come!

Peace

1 comment:

  1. So true. I have found that the "stress" associated with all of these changes, even though for me they have also been positive is that my cortisol levels are out of whack. Only exercise can really change this. Cortisol being out of whack will contribute to insomnia, and if you are already a go-getter which it sounds like you are, cortisol can already be high. This is one of the hardest challenges I find that I am facing. How to keep this under control because all to often I don't feel "stressed" but when I can't sleep - I know what the culprit is. Knowing is half the battle. Good Luck!

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