div class=mceTempDo you ever feel like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?  Just like this seagull, where the starfish he is trying to eat is half his size. /div
div class=mceTempI watched that seagull for about half an hour as he picked up the starfish, tried to take a bite and then dropped it on the ground again.  I don’t know if he was ever able to eat it or not./div
div class=mceTempI thought of how that seagull reminded me of my own life.  So many times in the past, I have tried to do too much.  I used to laughingly say that if I didn’t have at least half a dozen projects on the go, that my life was boring and I’d go looking for something else to add./div
div class=mceTempfont style=position: absolute;overflow: hidden;height: 0;width: 0a href=http://www.videnov.com/#1084;#1077;#1073;#1077;#1083;#1080; #1074;#1072;#1088;#1085;#1072;/a/fontThe problem with living your life that way is that you don’t  have time to do a really outstanding job of anything and/or you don’t get to enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done.  I’ve heard it described as taking time to smell the roses./div
div class=mceTempWhy do we do that to ourselves?  Sometimes, circumstances make our lives incredibly busy.  For example, I had five children born within six years; one of whom was seriously handicapped.  That was an incredibly busy and stressful time of my life!/div
div class=mceTempBut I added to the stress by taking on other things:/div
div class=mceTemp1.  I worked part time as a nurse./div
div class=mceTemp2.  I started a home-based business./div
div class=mceTemp3.  I was very active in our church, both in church callings and in the choir./div
div class=mceTemp4.  I kept journals for myself and my five children./div
div class=mceTemp5.  I made quilts for each member of the family, etc. etc. etc./div
div class=mceTempI understand now what was driving me to perform back then.  I had a negative belief system that I had no value as myself, only in what I did.  So, I had to keep producing – just to feel like I was of worth.  Of course, I had absolutely no idea that I had a negative belief system like that.  It was subconscious (below my conscious level of understanding).  But it determined every aspect of my life and eventually wrecked my health./div
div class=mceTempDoes that sound familiar to you?  Are you unhappy, unhealthy, unfulfilled, unproductive, unprofitable?  If you are, I understand because I’ve been there myself.  I learned about the negative belief systems I had and I also learned how to break them.  If you want to know more, visit my website: a title=Sheryl Stanton’s website href=http://www.SherylStanton.comwww.SherylStanton.com/a/div

Changes in eating habits can happen in two ways.  One way is to eat more and the other is to stop eating.

1.  Stress Eating:  I am a stress eater.  Under stress, you never crave vegetables or healthy foods.  It is comfort foods you want: sweet, salty, greasy, rich.

When I was going though my greatest stress, there were a couple of times when there was nothing sweet to eat in the house.  I can remember melting some butter, putting brown sugar and flour in it and standing over the stove, eating it right out of the pot! – and slavering as I was doing it! 

Another time, I got a phone call to say that my nineteen year old son had just become a father.  I had no idea that his ex girlfriend was pregnant.  I hung up the phone and went straight to the fridge.  My automatic response was to seek comfort through food.  Anyone identify with that?

What happens to stress eaters?  They gain weight – which lowers their self-esteem and increases their stress even more!

This is the reason why diets don’t work.  You can take the weight off, but unless you have resolved the underlying issue that caused you to put the weight on in the first place, it will come right back on; usually with interest!

2.  Anorexia:  Some people stop eating when they are stressed (sometimes I wish that I had that problem). 

What are the consequences of not eating?  Increased fatigue, decreased resistance to disease, malnutrition, and, unless corrected in time,  death!  Anorexia is a serious problem, especially among young women.

Drugs (prescription or illegal) are taken for the same reason as alcohol.  They are an attempt to decrease anxiety and stress.  Without finding and eliminating the cause of the stress, escaping with drugs doesn’t work.  The problems that are causing the stress are still there.  However, taking drugs usually just adds another set of problems, more stress and a decreased ability to solve them.

I want to include smoking here.  What happens when people try to quit smoking? 

Read the rest of this entry »

Many people drink to relax and reduce their stress.  They feel better - temporarily. 

It’s interesting that we actually have a term for when it is socially acceptable to start drinking.  It is called “Happy Hour”.  That is usually after work, where overstressed and unhappy, unfulfilled workers can go to have a drink and forget their problems.

Of course, “Happy Hour” can be different times for different people.  Both of my parents died, from what I believe to be alcohol-related illnesses.  Their “Happy Hour” started at 3:00 and continued until they went to bed.

Unfortunately, all the alcohol consumption does is mask the stess.  It does’t solve the problem that caused the stress in the first place.  It just adds many other, often more severe problems that just increase the stress load.

Just as a side note, I am told that after an Alc0holic’s Anonymous meeting,  many of the people are smoking.  In a effort to stop drinking, they just change the addiction to something more socially acceptable – but they are still just trying to control the symptom of the stress instead of resolving the problem that is causing the stress!

Stress can cause changes in sleeping patterns in two ways.  You can either have insomnia or you can sleep too long.

1.  Insomnia   I had and occasionally still have insomnia.  With insomnia, you can either have trouble falling asleep or you can wake up in the middle of the night.  In the dark of the night is when the fears and anxieties creep in to plague and torment you.

I never had trouble falling asleep but I would often wake up in the middle of the night.  If I did wake up, my mind would turn on and flit from thing to thing – usually from problem to problem.     I would toss and turn and plan things to the ‘nth degree. 

I have learned to channel this.  If I wake up after a few hours sleep, that means that my initial sleepiness is gone and I won’t get back to sleep.  So, I usually get up, go into the office and start writing.  My mind is refreshed and alert, the house is quiet and I can concentrate completely on what I’m doing.

The problem with this, though, is that the day comes, with all of its demands and requirements.  If your life and time is flexible, then it doesn’t matter.  You can go to bed when you’re tired.  If it is not flexible; if you have a family to take care of or a job to go to, then you are starting your day tired.  This usually means that you don’t have the energy to cope or function properly.

2.  Sleep Too Long.  This is another way that unrelieved stress can hurt your body.  One of my clients escapes through sleep.  She will often sleep ten to fifteen hours a day.  When you are asleep you don’t have to face the problems.   It doesn’t make the problems go away.  They are there waiting when you wake up – usually with interest.

In the last few blogs, I have talked about how stress can break down our body.  As a Western society, we’ve been conditioned to believe that our body is separate from our mind and that there is nothing we can do to get better.

But Dr. Bruce Lipton, author of “Biology of Belief”  believes differently.  He states: “The problem, however, lies in most people’s inability to grasp the power of thought, since, as a society, we are part of a belief system which creates dependency on external assistance.  You can change your life today or tomorrow, and you can change your physiology in one minute.  But that requires the ability to manipulate yourself – and the unshakeable belief that you CAN manipulate yourself.”

I know that what Dr. Lipton says is true – from my own experience.  It is possible to reduce your pain, improve your health or change your life in any way that you want to.  Of all the courses I took and the different energy modalities I studied in my eight year search, the one that I found to be the most effective and the most powerful was Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT.

It restored my health, and more important, it taught me why I got sick in the first place and how to prevent it from ever happening again.  In the three years that I have worked as a Stress Relief Coach, EFT has been my primary tool because it is so effective on so many different problems. 

If you are having a physical problem and are not satisfied with the results you are getting, I encourage you to look into EFT.  You can find more information on my website: www.SherylStanton.com