{"id":3411,"date":"2018-07-31T10:10:39","date_gmt":"2018-07-31T14:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/?p=3411"},"modified":"2018-07-25T16:55:34","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T20:55:34","slug":"changing-perspectives-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/2018\/07\/31\/changing-perspectives-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Changing Perspectives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"I am a planner, not a worrier and I was discussing this with my mother recently. She is a worrier and as she grows older, she worries more than plans. Although, she intellectually knows that worrying wastes time and energy and resolves nothing, she cannot help herself. I was a worrier in my teens and early 20s and it made me physically ill. In fact, my headaches got so severe, normal pain relievers wouldn\u2019t do the trick.\u00a0 I ending up going to a neurologist and had a CAT scan that revealed nothing more than I was experiencing vascular headaches. My body was reacting to my over anxiousness and worrying.\u00a0 That\u2019s the point when I chose to focus my energy on planning and being proactive. After some time, perhaps years (it\u2019s easier to intellectualize than to put into practice), I didn\u2019t worry about the things I couldn\u2019t control, which are a lot. What I did was think about options or solutions to problems. For example: if I need to leave town, who will take care of Mathew while Mike works. It\u2019s a lot like buying insurance, sometimes you need it, other times you don\u2019t. I would rather invest my time in finding solutions than waste my energy in worrying. It alleviates the powerlessness and anxiety that worrying creates.<\/p>\n

Not only is worrying unproductive, too much of it can really be physically debilitating, triggering a host of health problems. \u00a0When we are anxious or feel that we are in danger our body has an automatic physiological reaction called the \u201cfight or flight\u201d response that releases a surge of adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol into our bloodstream and sets our bodies on red alert, preparing our body to \u201cfight\u201d or \u201cflight.\u201d \u00a0The chemical release causes our body to undergo a series of very dramatic changes. Our respiratory rate increases. Blood is diverted away from our digestive tract and directed into muscles and limbs, which require extra energy and fuel for running and fighting. Our pupils dilate, awareness intensifies, \u00a0sight sharpens, impulses quicken,\u00a0 perception of pain diminishes and our immune system mobilizes with increased activation. We become prepared\u2014physically and psychologically\u2014for \u201cfight or flight.\u201d We scan and search our environment, \u201clooking for the enemy.\u201d This served our ancestors well as the \u201cfight or flight\u201d response protected them from dangers such as wild animals that wanted to eat them. For the most part, we don\u2019t encounter wild animals these days, but our bodies still sense \u201cdangers.\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019re there in the form of a demanding work schedule, deadlines, balancing home and work life, a challenging child, climate change, misguided leaders, a dispute with a loved one, even a scary movie or exciting adventure ride can trigger the response.<\/p>\n

Once a perceived threat has passed, hormone levels return to normal. As adrenaline and cortisol levels drop, your heart rate and blood pressure return to normal levels, and the other systems resume their regular activities. It\u2019s okay if the perceived \u201cdanger\u201d or stressor is time limited. The problem occurs when \u201cfight or flight\u201d is triggered daily by excessive worrying and anxiety. The overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones can disrupt almost all of our body\u2019s processes. Therefore, putting us at an increased risk of numerous health problems, including:<\/p>\n