Stress.

Sit back and relax with me for a moment. I'd like you to imagine yourself in a happy neutral. That space where you'd imagine everything to be "all good." Look at that point in your life that you are working toward and relax into it with me. This is your equilibrium. This is the ideal you are constantly working towards. Doesn't it feel good?

Now imagine that you get a huge pay raise and promotion. Feels great doesn't it!!! Awesome!!! Now you have 200 workers under you. You are in charge of all these people. Their lives and the lives of their families depend on you. Hmm... 

Stress.

Now imagine that you lose your job. The main offices are shutting your branch and they do not need your services. You are without a job and you have a family to support...

STRESS.

First my disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a psychologist. ALL SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION THAT I AM USING COMES FROM the Wikipedia article on STRESS and various articles from the MAYO CLINIC on STRESS. I will be using these articles as a reference for the next few blogs.

I am not affiliated with any sort of health industry. You are reading this blog with the full knowledge that Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not authorized by any school, institution or government to give health and medical advise. If you follow any advise in this blog it is at your own discretion and at your own risk. Okay? Nod if you agree. If you read anything past this paragraph that means you have nodded and you agree.

Hey... don't STRESS OUT about it... just nod and all will be good!!!

STRESS. According to something I read on wikipedia, a scientist by the name of Walter Cannon developed the idea of "homeostasis.^[2] as a concept central to the idea of stress. In biology, most biochemical processes strive to maintain equilibrium, a steady state that exists more as an ideal and less as an achievable condition. Environmental factors, internal or external stimuli, continually disrupt homeostasis; an organism’s present condition is a state in constant flux moving about a homeostatic point that is that organism’s optimal condition for living."

IN OTHER WORDS... go back to that happy neutral you were at before we began speaking with all the scientific nonsense words. Breathe deep and relax into it. This is close to what your equilibrium feels like. This is the "homeostatic point" where you would like to be. Stress occurs when this equilibrium is wacked out of balance. This stress could be good (promotion, new baby, wedding) or the stress could be bad (job loss, death, divorce). Either way, STRESS is the general term used for the chemical reactions our bodies and minds have to stimulus that knocks us off our neutral place.

I would go on... but you all can read the articles. There are a HUGE amount of brain functions, hormones and biological mechanisms that go into the definition of stress. I'll be coming back to some definitions and information in upcoming blogs.

What I want to get at in this episode of Cousin Pili's Cognitive Crap is the fact that STRESS IS GOOD. Stress is a medical fact of life that dates back to when us humans were playing with saber-tooth tigers and stone axes. It is connected with our "fight or flight" response. Stress is that extra push we get when we're in an earthquake and you need to get your family out of the house. Stress gives you that surge of confidence when you want to ask that cute boy to dance. Stress gives you the necessary drive to pull though the loss of someone close.

STRESS IS BAD when you let it take over your life. I am CONSTANTLY telling anybody who will listen to CHOOSE HAPPINESS. CHOOSE HEALTH. BUT... sometimes the stress is so DEEP and overwhelming that you find yourself drowning unable to take a fresh, stabilizing breath of HAPPINESS. 

Please grab my hand NOW so that I can do my best to pull you out. 

In my next few blogs I'm going to talk about STRESS and how it can turn into or be a side affect of a serious medical condition. I'm going to speak with a few family members about STRESS. Lastly I'll talk about how to cope with stress. Because let's face it folks... WE ARE ALL STRESSED for one reason or another so why don't we help each other out. 

So until then... please close your eyes and take a deep breath. Go to that neutral place. Hang out there for a little bit. Now open your eyes. That may not have solved your problems but you just gave yourself a little break and now maybe your stress can be a little less... um... stressful.

If you have any personal stories about stress, direct questions about stress and/or something related to stress that you'd like me to talk about PLEASE leave me a comment below. 

Love and happiness,

Cousin Pili

Maui. On a beach looking at Lana'i.