Jack’s Winning Words 9/24/21

“It is how people respond to stress that determines whether they will profit from misfortune or be miserable.”  (Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiIn)  Cardiologists use stress tests to warn people if they need to “slow down” before the heart reaches “the breaking point.”  Many things, besides a treadmill, can put the heart under stress.  Maybe it’s the job, listening to the news…or it can be from a relationship that’s not going well.  Whatever…stress can cause misery, but it can also make us stronger.  Mihaly says that our response is the important thing.  How are you dealing with stress?  I hope that it’s working.  ;-)  Jack

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  Whether it is a real emergency situation or just pressure that you put on yourself. Too many people let stress get to them in ways that can ruin their health by giving them high blood pressure or other stress-related health problems. My dad had ulcers primarily because of stress. His reaction to stress was heartburn and he probably kept Tums and Rolaids in business. I occasionally suffer sleepless nights due to stressing about something – usually something that is beyond my control anyway.How do you handle stress?  As I’ve grown older, I have developed more ways to deal with stress without panicking or letting it keep me awake at night. A piece of advice from a friend during a time when I was stressing after the fact over something that I could have done better helps me now. He listened to me beating myself up for a few mistakes and said, “Nobody died.” That stopped me cold, as I realized that I was making something that was really trivial in the grand scheme of things into something stressful. He was right. Whatever small mistakes I had made had not caused anything serious – nobody died – and it really didn'T.===JACK:  I don't know who said it, but I like it....A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF FLEAS MIS GOOD FOR ANY DOG.

FROM EMT SINGS IN TCM:  Thank you! You don't know how many times you hit the nail on the head with your Winning Words as I have been navigating through this awful time of grieving Rick's death and the unexpected problems with his family! I hope it is making me stronger, I am in counseling.   ===JACK:  You've been through some tough times before!  Robert Schuller wrote a book: "Tough Times Never Last.  Tough People Do."

FROM THE VIKING:  Jack before I let stress even enter the picture I take a deep breathe and remember the magnet on my refrigerator door It reads: Rule #1-Don’t sweat the small stuff  Rule#2- It’ all small stuff===JACK:  Life sometimes has a way of bringing on "the sweats."  An accumulation of small stuff has a way of becoming BIG stuff.  I like the Bible verse: "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."   

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:   can you spell his last name from memory?   it reminds me of supracalifragilisticexpialadosis??????      ===JACK:  Actually, I misspelled the last name.  It’s: CSIKSZENTMIHALYI.  He was/is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago.  His name is pronounced:  ME-HIGH   CHICK-SENT-ME-HIGH.  Probably more than you wanted to know. ===SP:  i think i will stick with Me High:):):)===JACK:  Knowing you, I though you might use: Chicks send me 

high.  

FROM MD IN BSFL:  I'm thinking that Biden is stressed out. Blaming border agents for his failures is clearly a sign. We can't let him get away with this. ===JACK:  The migrant issue is more than Presidential decisions.  It's a moral problem that is a world problem.  Who among the poor and destitue wouldn't want to live in the United States?  Europe faced that problem, too.  There is no easy solution.  Open borders is not the solution.  Maybe sharing vaccines would help poorer coulntries, and at the same time, help us.  There is such a thing as humanitarianism.===MD:   I agree. But why is Joe putting the heat on border agents  instead of addressing  his inability to handle the situation. Please don't defend his incompetence on this. We can only do what we can do. If the US exhausts it's resources , then what?===JACK:  The reraction. I think, is to the "horse pictures".  That stirs up the people, and that's what "news" is all about.  The problem is more than one man (or administration) to solve.  A complex world problem has no simplistic answer...so, the prolem will not be solved in a way that pleases everybody...or anybody.

   

FROM SR VIN SJ:  i TRY TO WORK IT OUT IN MY JOURNALING. . .THOUGH I LOSE AT TIMES. BUT "TALKING IT THROUGH" HELPS ME. . . HOW ABOUT YOU, JACK? ===JACK:  I get a workout trying to answer some of the questions raised by Winning Words.  Trying the answer the unanswerable in a way that is helpful and not judgmental is not an easy task.