ARE YOU BREATHING? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 144

When I was a little girl I would hold my breath when I had to take medicine, have a shot or a vaccination. The doctors would tell me to breathe and not hold my breath.  When I lived in cold climates and had to drive on wet or icy roads I would hold my breath until the possible danger had passed.  As I got older and needed to exercise I would hold my breath when I was doing something strenuous or using a machine that I happened to dislike.  The trainer or coach would tell me to stop holding my breath.  Then when I had a number of life-threatening surgeries I found that much of the time I would be holding my breath.  Again, the doctors and nurses would tell me to take deep breaths to ease the pain, to lessen the nausea, etc.  Most recently I have had physical therapy for several different problems, and the therapist told me to stop holding my breath.  I guess old habits die hard, but I am trying to reduce the stress in my life and my body by remembering to breathe.

What about you?  Do you hold your breath?  Do you breathe shallowly instead of deeply?  What makes you hold your breath?  The good advice I am trying to take is to put my shoulders back, sit up or walk straightly, and

BREATHE DEEPLY!

ARE YOU EASILY UPSET? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 127

When I was young having butterflies in my stomach was a common occurrence.  If something happy was going to be happening like a special holiday, a birthday, or a dance I had butterflies.  If I had a major test I had butterflies that day.  When I was grown up if I worked for a cranky boss I had butterflies, if my husband and I had a disagreement I had butterflies, if one of my children became ill I had butterflies, and the night before I had any of my many surgeries I had butterflies.  Of course, the butterflies were just another word for anxiety.

While all of us have anxiety at times, if it happens too often then it is not a healthy situation.  Anxiety can cause or exacerbate stress, and we already live in a world with enough stress for all of us.  I have a friend who became an alcoholic at a young age, but he has now been sober for 30 years.  He said one of the things that helped him get over the anxiety that propelled him into drinking too much was the Serenity Prayer which he learned while attending AA meetings.  If you are not familiar with it, the words are:

                               God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
                               the courage to change the things I can,
                               and the wisdom to know the difference.

Even if you are not a believer, the philosophy of those words can help relieve your anxiety and keep you from becoming easily upset.  If you think about what is causing you to be anxious or upset, ask yourself if there is anything you can do about it.  If there is, then do it.  If there is not, then let it go, and it will either resolve itself or it will not.   Remember to breathe (we all have a tendency to hold our breaths when we are struggling with problems), and take deep breaths which will help lower your level of anxiety.

The best thing you can do is:

STAY CALM

Will Absence Make The Heart Grow Fonder?

For the next few weeks I will not be writing any blog posts due to my surgery and recovery.  I hope when I am once again back to my old self that I will be able to pick up where I left off and that you will once again be kind enough to read my blog, give me your comments, and share ideas or suggestions for topics that interest you.  Until then, I wish all of you well.