No one except myself, in the sly disguise of stress.
My dog, Baloo was the chief offender in said stress. He is pushing boundaries in a desperate attempt to discover his true self. He has decided that after 2 years of living within the confines of his 3.5 acre yard, he is ready to see what else is out there (I'm sure the fact that his underground fence is not working has nothing to do with it, and no I am not projecting). This translates into his running away every time I let him out. Sometimes far away. So why don't I use a leash or leave him in? Because he thinks leashes are for walks and as a dog embodies outdoors, he cries at the door all day to go out.
Aye, there's the rub. Stress if he stays inside because he cries constantly and fights with the other dog-cat, and stress if he goes out because he runs away and I'm afraid the big dum-dum will get hurt.
Even as I am typing this, the words that I often use with my 6 year old come into my head, "Is this a big problem or a little problem?" Though I know the sane (here I go with the crazy talk again) answer is "little problem," let me tell you it feels like a big fucking problem. Not because of the ramifications implied by the sad dog who wants to be free in the woods, but due to the wake of destruction left by repetitive stress.
After a full day of listening to pathetic whining and frantic calling for man's best friend, I felt one nerve short of a complete mental breakdown. My capacity to face reality, deal with life and maintain sanity was diminished. The stress itself was not killing me it was the opportunistic irritations capitalizing on my exposed vulnerability. I found it near impossible to reason with Emmett refusing to take a shower and felt completely defeated by the idea of completing my thesis, due in 13 months. Life seemed completely out of control. I tried to blog about it, I could not even do that.....AHHHHHHHH!!!!
Then I watched The Santa Clause with my kids and welcomed the arrival of perspective. God, I love Christmas.
Stress will kill you faster than any disease alone, either potentiating pre-existing "infections" or providing the opportunity for new ones to fester. It infiltrates the body and mind, destroys our defenses, compromises our healthy efforts. It works that way in medicine, psychology and all other disciplines. It is a know fact, stress kills.
So here is an idea, don't get stressed. Avoid it like the plague.
New superhero slogan: Defeat stress, live forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment