hey are under stress. When I was a prisoner, I was in constant fear for my life, but since I have taken the high road or the pavement, I kind of snicker at the suits driving their BMW's and living in a gated community complaining about stress.

Stress is not having enough money to pay the mortgage or the rent. Stress is not having enough food in the house when payday is a week away. Stress is being put into

What exactly is stress. My grandmother never heard that word and she certainly never used it as an excuse for not going somewhere or doing work around the house. I can imagine that I put a lot of stress in her life as she watched me get handcuffed from the age of 15 years old. Stress without knowing the word was part of her everyday existence.

Since I decided to go straight, my grandma has gone to heaven. It is only now that I realize that my lifestyle may have been the cause of her early demise. My mother died young too but she was fighting her own demons that were a lot more serious than stress.

But now, that I have become a real citizen of these United States and an active runner in the rat race of life, I hear the word "stress" bandied about as the most costly and most discussed ailment of all time.

When I started to research the cause of stress, I discovered that it is part of our psychological makeup. Men and women have sympathetic nervous systems that responds to outside stimuli.

We are always in the fight of flight mode. This built in sensory systems comes from the caveman days. Win those days man had to be ready to fight for their life or their food at a moments notice, the human body had to respond quickly and efficiently.

Although civilized mankind is not in constant danger from ravenous beast of prey, they are in danger of losing their jobs, their kids, their spouse, their status. When we are under self imposed stress, this built in mechanism speeds up our heart rate and our breathing.

In addition our blood pressure increases dramatically, some people get sudden headaches when they feel they are under stress. When I was a prisoner, I was in constant fear for my life, but since I have taken the high road or the pavement, I kind of snicker at the suits driving their BMW's and living in a gated community complaining about stress.

Stress is not having enough money to pay the mortgage or the rent. Stress is not having enough food in the house when payday is a week away. Stress is being put into

It is only now that I realize that my lifestyle may have been the cause of her early demise. My mother died young too but she was fighting her own demons that were a lot more serious than stress.

But now, that I have become a real citizen of these United States and an active runner in the rat race of life, I hear the word "stress" bandied about as the most costly and most discussed ailment of all time.

When I started to research the cause of stress, I discovered that it is part of our psychological makeup. Men and women have sympathetic nervous systems that responds to outside stimuli.

We are always in the fight of flight mode. This built in sensory systems comes from the caveman days. Win those days man had to be ready to fight for their life or their food at a moments notice, the human body had to respond quickly and efficiently.

Although civilized mankind is not in constant danger from ravenous beast of prey, they are in danger of losing their jobs, their kids, their spouse, their status. When we are under self imposed stress, this built in mechanism speeds up our heart rate and our breathing.

In addition our blood pressure increases dramatically, some people get sudden headaches when they feel they are under stress. When I was a prisoner, I was in constant fear for my life, but since I have taken the high road or the pavement, I kind of snicker at the suits driving their BMW's and living in a gated community complaining about stress.

Stress is not having enough money to pay the mortgage or the rent. Stress is not having enough food in the house when payday is a week away. Stress is being put into

p>When I started to research the cause of stress, I discovered that it is part of our psychological makeup. Men and women have sympathetic nervous systems that responds to outside stimuli.

We are always in the fight of flight mode. This built in sensory systems comes from the caveman days. Win those days man had to be ready to fight for their life or their food at a moments notice, the human body had to respond quickly and efficiently.

Although civilized mankind is not in constant danger from ravenous beast of prey, they are in danger of losing their jobs, their kids, their spouse, their status. When we are under self imposed stress, this built in mechanism speeds up our heart rate and our breathing.

In addition our blood pressure increases dramatically, some people get sudden headaches when they feel they are under stress. When I was a prisoner, I was in constant fear for my life, but since I have taken the high road or the pavement, I kind of snicker at the suits driving their BMW's and living in a gated community complaining about stress.

Stress is not having enough money to pay the mortgage or the rent. Stress is not having enough food in the house when payday is a week away. Stress is being put into

spond quickly and efficiently.

Although civilized mankind is not in constant danger from ravenous beast of prey, they are in danger of losing their jobs, their kids, their spouse, their status. When we are under self imposed stress, this built in mechanism speeds up our heart rate and our breathing.

In addition our blood pressure increases dramatically, some people get sudden headaches when they feel they are under stress. When I was a prisoner, I was in constant fear for my life, but since I have taken the high road or the pavement, I kind of snicker at the suits driving their BMW's and living in a gated community complaining about stress.

Stress is not having enough money to pay the mortgage or the rent. Stress is not having enough food in the house when payday is a week away. Stress is being put into

hey are under stress. When I was a prisoner, I was in constant fear for my life, but since I have taken the high road or the pavement, I kind of snicker at the suits driving their BMW's and living in a gated community complaining about stress.

Stress is not having enough money to pay the mortgage or the rent. Stress is not having enough food in the house when payday is a week away. Stress is being put into a cell with a guy who weighs more than a truck and who has a bad attitude. These are the times when the fight-or-fight system really goes into high gear.

Other than these life altering situations, the best remedy of artificially induced stress is to just hug someone you love or who loves you. when you get home from a stressed day, hold your girlfriend, wife or your significant other's hand for a few moments and tell them how nice they look. Remember how grateful you her that it is not Bubba whose hand you must hold.

The best way to de-stress is to think about how bad things in your life could really be. You might want to consider helping some poor soul whose life is really challenged by adversity. Other alternatives that involve body movement are tai chi, yoga or light exercise to music. Recognize all that is good in your life and be grateful for it.