Body Talk

Quote of the day: "Stress is not what happens to us. It's our response TO what happens. And RESPONSE is something we can choose." -- Maureen Killoran, author

I purposely chose today’s quote because I believe it needs further explanation in order to be true, and most importantly, practical. Plus, stress is what’s up for me today…it’s my arch nemesis…my Newman, if you will (Seinfield reference).

Let me use my morning stressor as an example to help explain what I’m getting at.

Over the past two weeks we’ve spent more than $500 on fixing our two computers. This is a lot of money in our world. The laptop was working for about two days and then it wouldn’t connect to the Internet, which was one of the issues that needed to be fixed. After spending roughly 20 minutes on the phone with the computer repair people, trying to troubleshoot the problem they had supposedly fixed, they said to bring it back in for them to take another look, free of charge (which wasn’t a given—I had to fight a bit for this).

So, we bring it in and they fix the problem on site. Fine. Great. All is well, right? Wrong. We get it back home and suddenly the same night we’re unable to watch video clips online. Why? Who knows? My husband brings the computer back to the place again this morning and they say, “Now we have to charge you more to fix it.”

More! What? It’s still not working from the first go-around!

I was furious. Stressed? Yes, you can say that. So I called and spoke with the repair guy who I spoke with before and after about 10 minutes of explaining why they are obligated to fix the computer again, free of charge, noting that it’s NOT free since we already paid them $500, he put me on hold to speak with his “supervisor” who then fixed the computer, free of charge.

Now I’m all for not sweating the small stuff. Believe me, I get it, but here’s what I realized today. Our bodies, regardless of how we’re going to “choose” to “respond” to a situation, will naturally react to a situation, and that reaction will not be in our immediate control. Our bodies will choose the response, just like that whole fight or flight thing.

So, yes, we may be able to choose our response to something, but that “conscious” choice does not always happen in the same moment when the body reacts. We must recognize the natural reaction of the body to be able to fully understand our stress and how to manage it.

My point to this annoying computer repair story is that my body was overwhelmingly consumed with the stress even after I was able to choose my response in moving forward. It wasn’t until after I was able to do some stretching on my lunch break, and some crying (to be honest), was I able to fully release it from my body. The crying was simply a release of energy, not an overly dramatic response.

Stress affects the well being of all humans. Our bodies are our vehicles in this world. We can increase the health and vitality of our bodies by being conscious of thought patterns and beliefs we hold to be true, but we mustn’t stop there. We must continue to do whatever we need to do to cleanse ourselves of the natural responses we’ll have to life situations.

In this moment of today I feel a sense of ease in managing my stress because it no longer feels like something I am totally doing to myself. And with that understanding, I am free.