Dealing with Post-Holiday Stress

This is a time of the year that can be very stressful for many of us. Vacation is over, and there are no breaks anywhere in sight for the next while. The credit card bills start rolling in after holiday over-spending, and many people can get pretty stressed out. Add to that the short days, darkness and frigid temperatures and this can be a very hard time of the year to deal with. So this blog entry is about how to deal effectively with this stress.

1) Sort out what you're worries are - Sometimes that means writing things down. Make a list of everything that you have on your mind. Then, go through them one by one and examine which you have control over and which you don't. Those you don't; put out of your mind, you can't do anything about them anyway and focussing on them will only cause stress and anxiety. Those you CAN control, set to work on sorting them out or solving them all together (ie: If mounting bills are stressing you out, go through them, find out exactly what you owe and either pay them, or make a plan with a bank on how you'll deal with them). Often just dealing with the issues and knowing you have a plan can make a lot of difference.

2) Focus on Today - Just like I mention in my book (Live Life from the Heart: 52 Weeks to a Life of Passion and Purpose - click here to get your copy), the more you can remain in the present and focus on one day at a time, the easier life gets. Let's face it, there is lots you can control, but even more you can't and the sooner you accept that and strop trying to control those things, the better. Focus on enjoying each day as best you can (not with the idea that you won't have tomorrow, but just because every day is special:)

3) Stay Busy - For me the most effective thing I can do to help my mood and my ability to cope with life's stress is to stay busy. The more I can keep my mind distracted with other things, the better I feel. That held true when I was in hospital and is still true today. When I have too much time on my hands I can get neurotic and begin worrying a lot, but if I stay active and busy, life goes well. I'm not advocating that you ignore reality or anything, but simply that you don't dwell on negative things and instead focus on living life as actively and fully as your health will allow.

4) Exercise - In that same vane, I'm a runner. People often ask me, "why?". Why running? Why is it important to you? and the truth is, I do it because I love it and I want to stay in shape, but most of all, I do it because of how it makes me feel. After a run (even if it's only a few km) I feel more energized, more calm and have a general sense of well-being. I would strongly encourage you to get active. It doesn't have to be running. Walking is great too, so is swimming. Anything that gets your heart rate up for a while is good. It will help your mood, ease stress and also make you stronger physically which, especially when you're fighting disease, is really important.

5) Pray, but Act Too - Faith is a huge part of my life. I couldn't have made it through my health issues without God. Sometimes he provided that little push or support, sometimes he carried me completely. I pray daily and I think it can be a great source of comfort and strength. That said, I also think that God expects us to help ourselves and that he often does his work through us and others. If you don't already, start praying. Trust me, God is waiting to hear from you:). But also don't expect miracles without any work. I want to take nothing away from God and his infinite power to help us and even cure us, but I do think he expects that we'll use the gifts and abilities he's given us to help ourselves as well. So don't sit around waiting for him to work miracles without taking action yourself. At the same time try surrendering as much of your future to him as you can (that's a daily struggle too) but in the end, we know he's in control and he loves us and cares for us more than we can ever understand. He only wants what's best for us and so the more we let him work, the better things will be.

I hope this was helpful to any of our readers dealing with the post-holiday stress common to so many. Remember your life is what you make it. Don't waste time being stressed over things you can't change.

Stop the Hype and Live Life

For most of us in N. America right now H1N1 is the topic of the day. To vaccinate or not, when will the vaccine be ready, will there be enough, what are the risks... etc etc. SO I thought it was a good time to talk not about the flu, but about maintaining our composure and peace amid stress.
Effective people, good leaders, and anyone you admire probably, are good at finding a sense of
peace amidst chaos.

I've been really frustrated the last few weeks with the media coverage of the H1N1 pandemic and could be silent no more. So, with my apologies for giving you more to read about this topic, here are my thoughts...

First let's talk about the word "pandemic". It itself, the word carried with it connotations of fear. People hear that word and freak out. I think they link the word with uncontrolled illness and widespread deaths (a la 1918 flu pandemic). I hate that the media uses this word. They will say that it is simply the accurate medical term for the H1N1 flu. I would argue that is also an effective way to create fear, and thus interest, and therefor higher ratings! In the end, the news is still a business and if they can't make us watch, they go out of business.

SO let's clarify that word "pandemic". A pandemic according to Websters is: occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population. Note that what the definition DOES NOT say, is that a pandemic = a high number of deaths. But, I would argue, that's what the news would have you believe.

The H1N1 flu has caused rampant fear in many people across North America. You can't escape hearing about it and reading about it and for many, it's begun to create irrational, frantic
behaviour. Just last week our local emergency room had to call police to control irrational patients in their waiting room demanding the vaccine (that wasn't even available at the hospital at that time).

In times like these it can be very easy to lose focus and get swept up in the storm and the hype. I wanted this issue to help you to maintain focus and perspective. This is NOT the apocalypse and, contrary to what I think many news channels would like for us to believe, life will go on after this
flu. Is it serious, of course. But do we need to panic? Hardly.

Let's look quickly at the facts:

• Total Reported Deaths in Canada from H1N1 as of Oct 29th: 95
• Total New Deaths this past week in Canada: 6
• Percentage of People who contract H1N1 who have died worldwide: 1.4%
  

So listen, I'm the first to be cautious about infections (for those who don't know, I'm a transplant recipient. I have a suppressed immune system. I'm at greater risk than probably anyone reading this right now). BUT, we need remember, odds are, if you take care of yourself and are sensible,
your odds of even contracting the flu are probably around 20%. And even if you're among that 20%, your odds of serious complications or death are less than 5%.

So let's get back to living our lives. Yes don't be stupid or hang out with people who are sick (why would you want to?) but don't stop living your life and waste away your time worrying about thing you have no control over. Enjoy life.

Stay healthy. Stay safe. Live Life!