get along littl’ doggie

i am fascinated with the research of kelly mcgonical, that people who use stress as an indicator live longer and I can only assume better lives. heck, who wouldn’t mind if stress had a slightly looser grasp on their life? You can put me in that category.

since i’ve heard about her work, i have been trying to use the stress as an indicator model. my first attempt worked swimmingly and since then, i have met with a more limited success.

i don’t find the results completely discouraging, mind you. before, the littlest stress would have come over me like a giant wave leaving me tumbling for hours, days or even weeks. every attempt with stress as an indicator has lessened my stress load and/or the amount of time i’ve felt stressed. secondly, even though I have had some moderately stressful events, stress has not run roughshod over me and the method has led to a more healthful handling of stress.

in the week since, it has dawned on me that perhaps something similar could be applied to emotions, especially the bring-me-down emotion. maybe recognizing that they are there and what kind of bodily effect those emotions are having on me could help me release at least some of the energy. just maybe, giving emotions a similar treatment as stress will lead to reduced energy that emotions have over me.

I find this to be really exciting. stress as an indicator represents the first new and working tool that i have added to my tool box in over two years. I have a certain optimism that feelings as an indicator will also have a similar positive effect. all that on top of the fact that I’ve experienced joy at many of my recent events and situations had cause hope to creep back into my life. It seemed like hope would never arrive. really, i only had to wait, oh, about two and a half years.

and I plan to ride this horse just as long as I can. so, get along lilt’ doggie, get along.