Stress and the Body

Did you know that some of the most happy events in your life are some of the most stressful as well? Actually any change in our lives can be stressful. Here are nine really big stressors that life can throw our way.

Death of a close family member
Marital separation
Personal illness or injury
Marriage
Pregnancy
Divorce
Death of a spouse
Spending time in jail
Retirement

Remember when your were told, “don’t go out in the cold without a coat, you’ll catch your death”. Well truth-be-told any physical stress such as extreme cold, heat or change in altitude can cause undue pressure on your system, causing illness to creep in. Another physical strain could be pushing yourself too hard in work or play. This can deplete the body of energy it needs to have in order to restore and maintain itself.

Also we women are most susceptible to stress caused by hormonal changes in our bodies. These hormone levels fluctuate and cause stress to our systems during puberty, menstrual cycles, pregnancy and menopause.

After reading the list above you’re probably thinking most stresses are negative but there are positive stresses like having a baby, getting a new job or moving to a new place. Any big change can effect us.

Thinking about all of this I looked back at my life I realized that I had been living a pretty stressful one. Being fascinated by this realization, I made a time line with hash marks to count from year to year the major life events I had encountered along the way.

In childhood I had moved to four different states by the time I was fifteen. Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado and Kentucky. And during my childhood I experienced seven major life events.

Just trying to find my way in life, I moved five times and had five jobs my first year out of college. As I learned each new job, I would become bored and look for something more challenging. This is how I discovered later an automatic means to advance myself in my career. It set a pattern for me. Later I was to become a freelancer and in being my own boss was more satisfied with those changes that I craved.

Counting up my totals, in all, I’ve moved nineteen times, gotten twenty-two jobs and experienced eleven major life-changing events. All of this before I hit forty. Yikes!

By the time CFS had taken a firm hold of me, I knew that I had to find some way to alleviate my levels of stress. As I continued to try to work I would take long breaks at lunchtime to practice meditating. Usually these meditations turned into naps, which was fine cause that’s what my body needed most.

To relax and unwind, I used deep breathing, and simple meditation techniques. Sometimes when I was just too wound up and couldn’t quiet my mind, I would read a book instead. I did anything that I could to tune out my thoughts of work and give my body a break.

Down the road the CFS forced me to cut out stresses in dramatic ways. The number one stressor was cut out first – work. I was too sick to take jobs so I stopped trying to work.

Then realizing I was getting worse even though I’d cut out the biggest stress in my life, I chose to leave my husband.

For the first time in thirteen years I saw that I needed to put me first and take care of myself. I had spent my marriage worrying about my husband’s welfare and happiness. There was something wrong in our marriage and neither of us really knew what. We were kind to each other and thoughtful, but for some reason my husband was in a state of unhappiness. He seemed always depressed and miserable. I felt as though I was walking a tight rope trying my best to smooth over the day to day of our routine to make life more pleasant for him. I tried to be happy for the both of us. It was exhausting.

Nothing seemed to work and I found I had nothing more to give to him. When I left there were other daily things that were an amazing relief for me to get away from. One of them was a dog we had at the time that was just miserable to live with.

After making some really tough decisions I was able to free myself to focus on getting better. I was fortunate to have the loving support of my family and good friends when I needed them. For me each year has just gotten better. I figure now it’s my time to share what I’ve learned with others. So I'll keep writing as things come to mind.