Change Is Great!!!
Thinking back over the last few years, I have changed many of my behaviors to a large extent. First and foremost, I stopped drinking alcohol -- which made available a large amount of time previously devoted to drinking. What do I do with that new time? This has been a big question lingering in my mind with all sorts of possible solutions. One might call this 'lingering in my mind' the process of optimization. Initially, I was determined to do activities and hobbies which prior to my drinking career I had not the time to do. Activities like: more exercising and reading along with writing. I have been exploring these activities which has been wonderful.
I have enjoyed learning and writing about topics lately. Over the last year, I have written more and read more than in other parts of my life. That produces a "high" in productivity. Although, no fast paced life can proceed without a cost. The cost has come in the form of 'pressure' which I exert on myself. Sometimes that 'pressure' is good and at other times that 'pressure' is bad. How does a person distinguish between each type of 'pressure'? Personally, the distinguishing factor is based on my anxiety at various times throughout the day, week, or month.
Anxiety can be used to motivate or stagnate a person's progress on a variety of levels. I just finished a wonderful book on reducing the anxiety in life titled "From Panic to Power" by Lucinda Bassett. In the beginning of her book, she describes the onset and origins of each person's anxiety. Which I found extremely helpful in my daily life. Identifying the origins and onset can help a person change immediately before the anxiety sets in.
Below are a couple excerpts from the ending of her book on dealing with anxiety. After taking the steps to identify the triggers of anxiety, each of us naturally start to change toward becoming a new person who is less anxious. Although, beware, becoming a new person can bring changes too as noted in the excerpt below:
It's time to get familiar with the new "you" who is confident, positive, and an inspiration to yourself and everybody around you.
People are not aware of the "new person" they become after a large transition -- whether that be a lifestyle change, or image change, etc. Those changes take time to become comfortable with. Even if you are not the person who has changed. Making changes in your life might even put pressure on others around you -- which in turn can take time to adjust toward.
When change is on the horizon, there is a certain amount of anxiety associated with the change. Here is an excerpt regarding anxiety and recognizing the origin:
We can only imagine a stress-free existence; stress is a necessary part of life. The only way to live without it is not to be alive at all. The dictionary defines stress as: "a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation," or "a state of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existing equilibrium."
Stress results from negative experiences such as arguments, scary thoughts, depression, exhaustion, divorce, and death. It also can be the by-product of positive experiences such as the birth of a child, going back to school, getting married, or receiving a long-awaited job promotion. Winning the lottery, as magical as it might be, also can cause a certain type of stress. So can environmental factors such as extreme weather conditions, toxic air pollution, and the people around you.
It is important to recognize the stressful contributors to your life. Only then can you eliminate some, minimize others, and change your reaction response to whatever cannot be changed. If you tend to react to anxiety with heart palpitations, dizziness, perspiring, or nervous and spacey feelings, your symptoms of stress will most likely be similar. What you do with the stress in your life will determine whether or not it will turn into anxiety.
That excerpt is extremely powerful and has spoken to me over the last couple of weeks. The beginning of the academic semester is underway with the ending of summer. Naturally, each of us had "so much to do over the summer" which we were unable to accomplish. This is an enormous source of anxiety -- if I let the anxiety build with the line of thought. Instead, I can just let go of all of the planned activities for the summer (which is in the past) and start planning for the future.
I Am A New Person?
As stated in the excerpt above, with every lifestyle change, there could be a certain amount of anxiety that comes with that new change. Although, after reading the book by Lucinda Bassett, I feel that my tool box for dealing with anxiety has been updated and is now equipped to deal with even more situations (and more effectively) than before. I highly recommend reading her book. The book is less than 300 pages in length and is filled with numerous tips on how to spot and deal with anxiety and stress.
With the knowledge gained from the book, I have stepped back from overwhelming myself with "self-imposed deadlines" for pumping out blogs on both "Kaiserwellnesscenter.blogspot" and "jmkthought.blogspot". This time has allowed me to evaluate a pace (if that is possible) for writing that is healthy. Prior to reading Lucinda's book, I was placing the same time restriction on each blogpost. This is unreal? Why? Because the blog posts are on separate subjects and require different amounts of content.
Writing a blog post on current events requires getting the content from the news source and adding commentary (a relatively easy task). Whereas, writing a blog post with dimensional analysis (math) inside requires more time to generate figures (illustrations) and equations. Furthermore, writing a blog post regarding chemicals inside of skin care products takes even longer. There is a certain amount of research that is entailed which takes time for me (for anyone for that matter). The learning curve is different for each. I am not trying to make excuses for irregular schedule of blogs. I am offering an explanation though.
I am learning to take these hobbies down to a normal pace and not incur too much stress writing about subjects that I love to learn about. Speaking of which, I am looking forward to returning to the last post on natural skin care products with quite a range of 'herbal' ingredients. I am researching more into their origin and use for the incorporation into skin care products. Why would the manufacturer include them in the formulation? Sometimes the answer is not easily discernible.
Conclusion...
The past couple of months have been quite eye opening for me. I look forward to continuing my writing on both blog posts. If you have any suggestions on blog content, please feel free to e-mail me: jmkthough@gmail.com. Until next time, have a wonderful weekend.
