“Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.” ~ Hans Selye.

I don’t know when I became a worrier.  It would be interesting to know if it was in my nature, or if it was nurtured.  I often laughed at a story I told of my mother, who, one night when my father came home later than usual from some church-related event up in the hills was proud to declare all the things she had not let herself think.  ‘I wouldn’t let myself think you had broken down and there was no one to help you; I wouldn’t let myself think you had a flat tire and were trying to change it in the dark; I wouldn’t let myself think….’ She had an endless list of things she had not thought, not realizing that she actually was thinking them!

Because I often recited this story as an illustration of how funny my mother was, and how impossible it was to ‘not think’ things, I once reminded her of this tale.  And when I got to the end of the ‘wouldn’t let myself think’ list, she proudly declared: “And I didn’t!”

It is the Buddhists who say that there are no such things as positive or negative experiences, there are just experiences.  It is we who assign these values.  So just as we could decide that (as my grandkids might say) ‘this is the worst day ever!’ we could just as easily declare it the best day ever, or even, just a day.  So long as we react to life’s events by catastrophizing or imagining the worst, we are directing our body to expect stress.  Since our body cannot differentiate between actual stress and perceived stress, the outpouring of cortisol (the stress hormone) occurs to help you fight off the threat.  And along with the cortisol comes elevated blood sugar, elevated blood pressure, and anti-inflammatory juices.  Which over time leads to diabetes, hypertension and a weakened immune system.   All because of our thoughts.

Like any habit, it takes discipline to try to change what has become our nature: to overthink things; to want to assert control over things; to want people to behave other than how they are.  Thankfully the mind-body practitioners provide many tricks to deploy to help silent the busy wandering mind.  Everything begins with the breath.  While you are focusing on your breath it is difficult to send your mind wandering down the labyrinth of your complicated brain.  Counting as you breathe is even better.  Breathing in for a count of four, out for a count of six activates the parasympathetic system, the one that slows and dampens the fight/flight response. 

This weekend marks the return of my high school alumni association’s big Fund-raising events.  Prior to that which shall not be named, for 21 years each Labor Day weekend was dedicated to these events.  Even during the strange times we still held one activity or another, apart from 2021 when variants reared their ugly heads.  It can be very stressful being a part of the organizing committee for such an event, since you are never completely sure of how many people will attend.  We are fortunate enough to attract past students from Canada, the UK, Jamaica and states across the US.  And as many people know, Labor Day falls in the heart of hurricane season.

So it was with trepidation that we watched Miss Idalia emerge and develop and rapidly intensify in the days leading up to Labor Day weekend.  Fortunately for us (and unfortunate for those Floridians to the north of us, not to mention the other states she wreaked havoc upon) we were barely teased by a fringe or two.  In fact last night we saw thunderstorms with lashing rain and winds that just happened by, without a name.  For this is our summer pattern.  Rains will come, but rains will go.  Black thunderous skies will threaten, to be replaced by clear blue in no time.  So we can either panic about the potential disruption of plans, or we can wait a while.  For this too will pass.

Since the weekend will be full of food, music and fun along with the fund-raising, I know that as well as working I will be dancing.  The music will be from all of the eras of Jamaican music, but there will be other genres too: funk, soul, pop and more.  I was thinking of the era of the rock steady music in Jamaica.  It formed a bridge between the energetic, fast paced ‘Ska’ music, and the still present reggae beat.  Rock steady was slower, calmer, more thoughtful and reflected more of a mellow mood.  But it was Bob Marley who reminded us not to worry, ‘Cos every little thing, gonna be alright.’

One of the beauties of any reunion is that you will see people who knew you when, and somehow you feel like a teenager again.  Despite what the mirror and those aching joints tell you, the years drop away and you don’t see the age in your friends’ faces either.  It is rejuvenating!  I once read of a study where a group of older men were taken back in time.  They spent some days in a hotel that was retrofitted to look like a hotel of their youth.  The music was from that era, newspapers and journals left around the place were all from that time.  When biomarkers were measured before and after the stay, there was marked improvement in vital signs, cortisol levels and other measures of health.  If you tell yourself that you are forty years younger than you are, you can actually see health benefits!

This weekend, as we party for a cause, we will be thinking of those who cannot join us.   We will be grateful for the fact that we can get together, that we can raise funds for our alma mater while having a good time, and we won’t worry about a thing.  And we will end the dance on Saturday night with Bob Marley’s anthem: ‘One Love’.

Have a wonderful weekend, Family! And remember, stress is whatever you tell yourself it is!

One Love!

Namaste.