Life is amazing. Even when you close your eyes for a moment and you open them, nothing looks the same as a moment ago. Life is a gift. Every day it gives you something to be happy about, to laugh about, to cry and feel sorry about. But all these emotions are the real proof that you are alive and that there are things that can touch you so deeply that will provoke contrast sensations. The biggest advantage of life is that it is all about changes. And here comes the problem for some people who are afraid of them, embracing the change that life so often brings.
First of all you have to accept that changes are something good. They mean that life goes on. So you should accept changes of life as something inevitable, as a challenge that you should overcome. The feeling of accomplishment afterwards is amazing. No matter what comes your way, accept it with an open heart and with the clear understanding that it will make you stronger.
People often say the following prayer: “Lord, give me the power to change things that I can and accept the things that I cannot change.” Even if you are not a religious person, this is the truth of life. If you believe in any other higher power, no matter how you call it, use this affirmation every morning while you enjoy your cup of coffee. Every time you face an impediment do your best to overcome it and always have faith that life is all about changes and this moment of difficulty will pass. In other words – in tough times, hang on, in easy times brace! If you remember that every cloud has a silver lining although it is hard to see it sometimes, it will be easier for you to live your life and make the best out of it. If you have a friend who is worried and desperate, be there and tell him or her “In tough times hang on, in easy times brace!”. Helping others to cope with life gives you the necessary experience to face your own challenges and be brave. Sometimes when you are too deep into your own problems, you cannot see that there are people who are in a much worse situation, so you have to be grateful that life has been benevolent towards you. So turn the affirmation “In tough times hang on, in easy times brace!” into your own personal mantra of success and every change of life will be like a blessing for you.
Is it better to accept the need to embracing the change that life gives us? Just about the only constant in life is change. No matter who you are or what you do, change will come. And with change comes stress for a great many people. Research from many years ago showed change-related stress to be just about pervasive for most people.
This research investigated stress related to changes of many kinds. The result showed stress to come from positive changes in life as well as negative, because all change can lead to stress. For example, this research showed death of a spouse to be the most negative change related stressor. But it also showed positively viewed changes like vacations, Christmas, and promotions at work to be stressful.
And along with this stress due to change came a significant likelihood of physical illness developing in the person suffering the stress. In cases of the most stress from changes the likelihood of a person developing significant physical illness was 80%!
This research alone suggests dealing with stress and change is exceptionally important. If not, you are setting yourself up for continuing stress and the toll it takes on the body. Adrenal fatigue is one of those possible results from unrelenting stress. This occurs when the adrenal glands no longer can secrete enough cortisol to fight the effects of stress. Sometimes vague, but very detrimental symptoms begin as stress continues. These symptoms are often not treated most effectively by physicians.
One reason for the lack of effective treatment has to do with the viewpoint physicians take concerning these symptoms. Traditionally trained physicians typically view and treat symptoms from an organ-specific stance. The NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) model looks at all systems of the body and the way they respond to stress in an effort to treat symptoms and conditions more comprehensively. This model says all systems are affected by the way any one of them responds to stress. It keeps piecemeal treatment from masking underlying pathology.
© Copyright 2013 Michael Lam, M.D. All Rights Reserved.
