A Very Happy Guy

In addition to the broad strokes outline debuted yesterday, there exists, as always, the option for detail. We can dig deeper, or let it ride, take the headline, add it to our ever building cache of data and experience and flow about our business. That is no typo by the way (although I will plead guilty to allowing so many to make it to this space unedited, uncorrected or totally unseen), however, in this usage I take full literary responsibility for the phraseology. Flow about our business. 

We were discussing the role that stress plays in our daily pursuit of health and happiness. Recent data indicates that when under the grip of the hormonal dynamic duo of adrenalin and cortisol, we have one basic biological response: Fight or flight. Hold your ground or hit the road. This response seems to be so hard-wired into our consciousness, acting as a circuit breaker tasked with the protection of the host, that we face a double helix paradox when we take the touted and ballyhooed approach cited in yesterday’s post known as The Big Three. We tweak our diets, exercise more and manage our stress in non-toxic ways. Easy as one-two-three, eh? 

But now, the smart guys in the lab coats are suggesting that unless we measure and manage the raging hormones causing the run or gun syndrome, and especially the effects of a chronic overload of cortisol, we are, we can be, fighting a losing battle. Because, they tell us, cortisol is designed to protect us, some say from the next pending ice age by adding insulating fat to our core, which is, nine times out of ten, THE ONE SPECIFIC AREA WHERE WE WANT TO REDUCE IT. Most of us have accepted the reality that climate change will create almost the exact opposite thermal reaction thereby leaving us with a net loss in what should be a win-win game. 

If we are unable to successfully manage our stress, if it becomes chronic, we simply cannot out train it. The best diet in the world, the optimal daily workout ritual are no match, they indicate, for the physiological power that cortisol holds over us. What the heck is a guy or gal to do facing the reality of this brutal contradiction? Are we doomed to a life of beer and pizza on the couch watching monster trucks? What can we do? 

Manage our stress. 

I listed several options yesterday. Last night as we filed our cerebral shovels and dug deeper into this hard-pan paradox, we uncovered a few more. 

Massage.

Body work.

Sauna, hot tubs, steam room. 

Herb.

Drum circles.

Fasting.

Hypnosis.

Aromatherapy.

Sex.

One would think, as I think, that with so many options we could spend a month of blissful days testing one per day and be healthier and happier as a result, which was, ta-da, the goal in the first place. 

This, dear friends, is what I was hoping for at the start of this long, strange blogging trip. If, I conjectured, we could, I could, note the flow of consciousness every day, for an entire year, SOMETHING OF VALUE MUST HAPPEN. 

It has. 

If the only thing that 365 consecutive days of digital journaling will bring is a better understanding of the many options available to us for stress management, I will retire in less than three weeks a very happy guy.