Every day we are in a frenzy of decision making. We make decisions every single second of the day from the moment we open our eyes in the morning to the time we shut them again at night. Our brain is in a constant merry go round, and for some of us it never stops. Some of us thrive on this adrenalin kick but for others it is not pleasant and the constant chattering in our mind builds up like a volcano on steroids and when it inevitably blows, whoever happens to be in our direct path will get hit.
Although, I find that the majority of this stressed out behaviour appears in women, there are many men as well that will experience this. The constant demand for our attention is overwhelming and while the woman usually has less of a problem sharing or asking for help, a man sometimes has a different belief about it. They tend to feel that if they ask for help they somehow loose respect from their partner and their “macho man” or the “head of the household” title gets lowered by society. I have observed this in my personal relationships with family and friends.
I have had the experience of stress myself and I do believe that stress is the number 1 silent killer in our society but no one talks about it and no one wants to admit it. Years ago while I was working in a residential home I had one of the most easy jobs that I could have ever imagined to have in this life time. My responsibilities were to set tables for residents, fill juices according to each diet requirement, go and get the hot cart and plate dinner hand it to the nurse to give to residents and afterwards cleaning up the tables and prepare late night snacks and place them on a cart for the nurse to take when it was time. No stress, right? So, I thought. We worked for a government ran home and it was a great place to work; benefits fully paid, sick days and holiday paid for and with time and a half. Not to mention I was getting fifteen dollars per hour (this was about twenty years ago) and still to my amazement some of the workers where constantly complaining!!! This made my blood boil as the people complaining were usually the ones who did not fulfill their job requirements! They always found something wrong with others, they never looked at what they did not do or appreciated anything, never took responsibility for their faults or if they forgot to do something. I was never one to go and complain but when the time would come and the review was up I would speak the truth about many things including taking personal responsibility if I did something wrong, because we were unionized it was hard to dismiss workers who were not a good fit. So, day in and day out I would have to hear complaining from these other workers, there were only a few of them but my schedule would most often fall to work with one or two of them. One day while working, I felt my body was doing its own thing, I was getting dizzy, my head was hurting my heart was fast and felt like was going to jump right out of my chest, not sure what was happening with me I was concerned about feeding the residents first before I would go and ask to be sent home, but as my vision began to act funny I went to see the head nurse. She checked my blood pressure and I could see the panic wash over her face, she immediately called my supervisor and sent me home but I was being uncooperative out of concern for my residents who needed to be served lunch. She insisted and I did just that however, before I went home I was sent to be seen by a first. He did not find anything unusual about me but after all, he was not my regular doctor. The following day I went to see my family doctor who knew me well and sure enough my blood pressure was through the roof again so I pleaded with him to give me a three month off slip. He argued with me telling me that it was not the work-related stress that was causing my high blood pressure but he caved and gave me the slip to have 3 month off due to stress. Before the 3 months was up, I went back to have another check up and my blood pressure had returned to normal. I will never forget his words to me he said, “Wow! I would have never believed it if I did not witness with my own eyes”. So, back to work I went and the minute I walked trough those doors I could feel the blood pressure begin to rise again up my neck to my head. My pulse rose, my face turned red and my top of the head was tingling like crazy! It was that moment when I decided my time there was done otherwise I would have a stroke or a heart attack. The next day I handed in my resignation.
A little time went by and I had to be put on high blood pressure medication to manage my stress and I had to change a few things in my lifestyle, but you see, our bodies are always talking to us. It is up to us to take the cues and make the changes that are required to live a better life. I am happy to report that after many years of struggle I am in a much more pleasant and calm state now. Doing meditation and following my life path that I am supposed to be doing, has allowed me the tools to learn to pay attention to my body’s needs. Following those cues have helped me reduce the blood pressure also have alleviated my body tightness and short tamper. We need to be in tune with our senses and the more we listen, the better chance we have in fixing something that can go extremely wrong. It’s just like a car when you hear a different noise, you check it out and so it should be with our bodies. We are given but one vessel, let’s listen to what it is that it needs to run smoothly until it is our time to return to our eternal home.
Wishing you blessings for many years to come, Sincerely
Carmela
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