Stress is a daily reality for most of us. We live with it and sometimes it is silently killing us without us realizing it. It is not a question of does stress affect a person, it is a question of how and how much does stress affect a person. Let’s look at how it can affect you.

MedSearch defines stress as, “The sum of the biological reactions to any adverse stimulus, physical, mental or emotional, internal or external, that tends to disturb a person’s normal state of well-being.”

I like this definition because it emphasizes the fact that stress is actually the effects that we experience in our bodies due to adverse stimuli.

That brings it much closer to home and makes it easier to understand how stress affects a person.

The biological reactions can include one, more than one, or all of the following:

1. Physical effects on your body.

2. Changes in your emotional state.

3. Disturbances in your mental state.

4. Deviations from your normal behavior.

Physical effects of stress can include tenseness in the muscles, an increased heart rate, more rapid breathing, increase in blood pressure, and many other adverse conditions.

When subjected to circumstances that induce stress, the body reacts in a similar way that it would react under dangerous situations. It releases chemicals that prepare the body for defense.

Under normal dangerous situations these bodily reactions lasts for a very short period of time, until the danger has passed.

Stress inducing conditions tend to prevail day after day, month after month. The body was not designed to be in a constant state of high alert.

That is why stress can be a killer.

It is basically synonymous with running a car’s engine constantly at red line revolutions. Sooner or later it is going to break because it was not designed to do that.

There is a normal level of operation that your body can easily cope with. The effects of stress take your body beyond those limits.

These additional pressures of stress on the bodily systems result in major effects on a person that can ruin your emotional state, cause depression and a general negative state of mind, and cause you to act completely out of character.

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Give me your little people, yeah, be sure and give me your invisible people! I am counting on all of you, “who got it together” folks, to pass the word around to the “little people”, that Jack cares. You guessed it. I am Jack.

What am I writing about? Specifically, I am “aiming” at everyone who feels like a “dork”. You know what I am referring to? People that have such low opinions of themselves, that they simply can’t relate to any of this “Be all you can” stuff. I know what I am talking about.

I used to be “one of them”.
When I was a young man, I had some big shots in world wide corporations, tell me I was very smart. What was my reaction? I thought they were nuts!I didn’t believe a word they said. It took me 1,000 years (maybe not quite a 1,000) before I finally sensed the idea that maybe, I really had something on the ball.

You might as well tell these people to book a flight to Hollywood, California and present themselves to the “Oscars Presentation” and receive there trophies. It’s nuts, right? You know exactly who and what I am discussing. Maybe you were once this “type” of person. How or when you got off this Blindsman Bluff routine is of no interest to me right now. I want the little people to pay attention to what I am going to say.

time, because I am Great”! “Look out world”.

99% of these guys and gals got sentenced as little people, when they were children. For whatever reasons, parental, environment, etc., these good folks decided that they “didn’t really matter” in the grand scheme of things.

So, Mr. Ego and Mr. Fear conned them into believing the best way to get along is to go along. However, In order to really be safe, they should stay in the “background of life” and shutup about their own needs and wants. I mean, like who the heck do they think they are? For goodness, sake, they are the “little people”. They simply don’t matter or count.

What’s really interesting, is to take a gander of these “little people” when they are all grown up. Like when they are parents themselves and have taken on adult responsibilities. Most of them are pretty good parents and providers for their families. Well, maybe not all. God knows, if you or I carried around the same “ negative baggage”that these people do, I doubt we could do as well.

This entire business about the “little people” actually breaks my heart. Let me put it to you like this, do you remember Barbaro, the fantastic race horse, that broke down during the Preakness last year? I mean, the entire country was down on its knees praying for the recovery of this gorgeous thoroughbred. And then, unfortunately, the veterinarian eventually had to put Barbaro down.

Here was this fantastic creature, that was treated as a little god, ever since he was a colt. I am sure, and I will swear to it, that Barbaro actually thought and believed he was Alexander the Great reincarnated! This horse lived and breathed greatness. Why? Well, for one reason, his mom and dad were pretty hot stuff themselves, and they passed on to him those race horse champion genes. I love that genetic pool!

Lets get back to my “little people”. Ok? Unlike Barbaro, most of these people will go thru life by the numbers, until eventually, they will just fade away. The thing that absolutely, tears me up, is most of them really never have known the joy and happiness that most normal folks experience.

I mean, I know you can relate with me here…I am sure there have been a few occasions in your life where you have honestly told your self- “I am wonderful. I know something great is going to happen to me!” “I feel joy and optimism and I am glad I am alive”.

Well of course, anyone can tell by looking at you, that you are going to do just great in this life. You carry yourself with good posture. You make a good first impression. Gee whiz Mary Lou, you even smell great! “I love that perfume. What is it?” I can tell by looking at you, that you celebrate life. You even carry a little twinkle in your eye. I love it!

I don’t get any of the above good stuff from the little people. The tragedy is, if anybody deserves to have great things happen to them, it’s the little people. Why?

Because, most of them have hearts of gold. They would give you the shirt off their back. What you see is what you get with these folks. No superficiality or subterfuge. They will tell you like it is. You may not like what you hear, but that is just too bad. Office politics? Forget about it. They don’t play the game.

Depending on your outlook on life…one could call this group the community of lost souls. But hey, who really is to judge. We can’t all “have it together”. Then again, maybe, I am taking the short range view of things?

Goodness knows, the little people really have history on their side. Well, think about it. I can think of two historical Spiritual Giants, dealing with Life and people, who said the little people were the salt of the earth! Now that is saying something. I am talking about Buddah and Jesus Christ. Both of these Spiritual Leaders had lots of good things to say about the humble, downtrodden and poor.

Inherit the earth? Gee whiz Corpus Christie, if I recall, these little people are suppose to get a huge inheritance? Something to the effect, that they are going to inherit the earth. And, better yet, the little people have some wonderful things waiting for them in the “next world”, if you give credence to spiritual prophesy.

No sir, no mam, you really don’t want to sell these folks short. Be very careful here. Watch out. Mr. & Mrs. Little People, could end up fooling the gosh almighty out of all of us. What am I talking about?

If we are looking towards the future and its possibilities, well, anything can happen! Who knows, maybe some gutsy and very intuitive individual, just might recognize under that humble and very mundane exterior of a human being, lies a potential sleeping Giant.

Yeah, an honest to goodness talented, smart and magnanimous person who has the potential to be King of his Universe. Holy smoke, maybe he is another Barbaro. God bless the Late Bloomers.

Don’t laugh. It can happen you know. Those of you who a have a few years on you, I am sure you have seen it happen. You know what I mean, “that’s the last guy or gal I’d expect to end up being so dog gone successful”. I am not just talking about material success. If he or she is lucky, success will be relegated to whatever brings them true happiness. Hoorah for the little people!

But back to the point I am trying to make, maybe somebody that pretty much has it together, recognizes the potential growth of one of these little people has inside them. And, for conversation sake, let’s say this Big Person, decides to commit to this little person, a strong hand of encouragement and nurturing. Holy smoke, can you image what miracles could evolve?

And, if Mr. Big Person, sticks with the mentoring of his new found friend, guess what? With lots of patience and genuine wisdom and encouragement, Mr. Little Person transitions into a Giant. Yes! And, with all of the Bells and Whistles that go with it. The only down side to this story is, the very gutsy and courageous mentor, is now so happy and excited for the well being of his favorite friend, that he might have a heart attack!

Really, no worries now for Mr. Mentor… What goes around comes around.

Jack Marinchek is the publisher of the site, standforyourgreatness.com/ standforyourgreatness.com/, which features- inspirational information on life improvement, getting jobs and income, travel, and real estate relocation.

There are two stresses in your life, which if you change can improve your health, energy, stress levels and longevity.

They are very easy to change. It is just a matter of knowing what your two biggest stresses are.

Firstly, defining stress helps you understand why these stresses are so important. Stress is …

.“anything you expend energy on”

Yes, simple as that. Stress is any task you expend energy on. There is good stress and bad stress. All stress requires energy to deal with it.

The biggest stresses use up more energy. Energy that must come from somewhere. Energy that depletes functions in the body, which can lead to poor health, low energy levels and a shorter life span.

If these two stresses are not dealt with, you are losing energy faster than you should. Energy that is used to support your body and allow you to live longer.

Changing these stresses, returns energy to you. This in turn will improve your health, day to day energy levels, help you deal with other stresses easier, and allow you to live longer and happier.

So by now you may be wondering, “what is the biggest stress in my life?” It is an area that you seldom think about. It is a stress that is around you all day and every day. It is a stress that adults believe they deal with, yet children know they can’t.

It is a stress that takes more energy from you and with time will create poor health, bend you spine and even cause you to lose height as you age. Yes, one of the biggest stresses in your life is ….

Gravity.

Gravity requires you to use energy. Try floating in the air for example. Every part of the day where you sit or stand, you are fighting gravity. The problem is… gravity is winning.

If you only sit or stand when you have to, and lie down every other time. You will notice you suddenly have a few extra hours in the day where you can lie down.

Laying down means no energy is spent on gravity. Energy that fills your reserve tank, to help your health, day to day energy, helps you fight other stresses. Less gravity stress means less degeneration to joints, less shrinking with time, less pressure on your organs.

Try lying down more regularly. Watch children, they lie down all the time and have a plentiful supply of energy. They also deal with stress better mostly. You don’t have to sleep, just lie down to

… read

… listen to music

… watch television

… or just relax.

You can do it on the floor, couch or outside on the grass.

Very simple, just – “only sit or stand if you have to”.

The energy you will gain will surprise you. You will be astounded at hoe much better you feel (totally – health, stress, energy, happiness) at the end of the day and week. In the weekends you will feel better, lighter and happier. Work becomes less stressful and your enthusiasm and motivation will increase.

Gravity is one of the two biggest stresses. Easy to change, simple to do. You may now be wondering what the other stress is? If gravity is one stress you didn’t think of then the other stress is also just as baffling.

In part 2, the second of the two major stresses will be unveiled.

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is dedicated to teaching you ways to remove stress; simply, easily and quickly. Using a combination of Eastern and Western techniques – stress can be removed, repelled and prevented … fast.

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Dr Graeme Teague has been in private practice since 1991, teaching and treating many clients with emotional and general health conditions.

Through his many teaching seminars and extensive professional knowledge, he has now released two new e-books on the many simple and effective ways to be healthy and stress free.

His new web-site is dedicated to teaching you ways to improve your health with orthodox and natural techniques.

Just click here to visit fast-stress-relief.com/index.html Fast Stress Relief.

On a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles, I sat next to an unaccompanied 6-year-old boy. We played games, talked about where he had been and where he was going. Periodically he would ask, “How much longer will it be?” I would look at my watch, and give him an answer. After what seemed like the “umpteenth” time he asked, I replied, “We’ll be landing soon. It just takes patience.” With big brown innocent eyes he looked up at me and asked, “How long is patience?”

I smiled to myself for the rest of the trip, for surely that is a question we would all like answered! By now, many of us have long forgotten — or at least feel guilty about — our New Year’s resolutions! So perhaps it’s a good time to look at them again, and see whether they were good ideas after all. Maybe all we’re missing is the patience!

One of my resolutions – again! — was to slow down. What a challenge that has proven to be! In America, we highly value speed, efficiency, action, and results. When was the last time you heard someone brag, “I got ten hours of sleep last night!” Many companies expect their employees to put in 50 hours per week, and you only begin to impress the boss after 60! Unfortunately, many people think this type of commitment is necessary to succeed in today’s highly competitive global economy. However, it may be worth nothing that the average German works 954 hours per year less than those described above. But the last time I checked, the Germans were pretty competitive in world markets!

As an entrepreneur, I know that long hours are often essential to start-up companies. And certainly, in every business, special circumstances arise and demand that extra mile. However, these situations should be the exception, not the norm. Ignoring one’s family, abusing one’s health, and demanding the same of others is a sure road to disaster.

Several years ago, after a flood in California the driver of my airport shuttle told me she had just spent much of the night sandbagging her house against the deluge. And then during the three hours it took us to get to LAX, this young woman told me an incredible story. Just two years before she had lost everything accept the clothes on her back in the earthquake. She was working alone in a trailer at a construction site. She found her way out of the door, now located above her head, by using a cigarette lighter to burn paper, so she could see to stack up furniture and climb out. She drove to her apartment to find her cousin with whom she lived, only to discover a pile of bricks. As she went around the corner, there stood her cousin, holding her dog. As they hugged, her cousin said, “I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’ve lost everything.” “No,” my driver said, “I have everything I need right here!”

I was truly moved by her story, and it reinforced my belief that one of the most important items on our “to do” list should be to slow down and pay attention to our relationships. How easy it is to think, “Oh, it’s OK if I work this weekend. I’ll take some time off later.” The weeks and months pass, — and that takes time — and slowing down — and lots of patience!

© Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger’s Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at ProductiveEnvironment.com www.ProductiveEnvironment.com