Change and stress

This week I went to see my fabulous body-doc, Dr. Emily Transue (she writes books, too). As I was telling her about the changes presented to me this year, she told me this:

The body registers good change and bad change exactly the same on stress tests.

So, you could be getting married or getting laid off a job -- and the body will still process/experience/feel the change at the same level of stress.

I'm not talking about sideline emotional states of sadness, loss or grief -- just stress. The kind of stress that makes the body feel tired and maybe puts you to bed an hour or so earlier than ususal, gives you the jitters, adult acne, weird appetite cravings.

So when you are going through a more-or-less positive change and find yourself saying things like, "I don't know why I haven't been able to sleep/I'm tired all the time/I can't concentrate/I'm feeling stressed -- I should really be so grateful" -- there might be a good reason. You're going through a Change. Humans react stressfully to change. Change is scary. Even if it's something wonderful, filled with possibility -- a new relationship, new job, new home, new business, new wardrobe -- newness is unchartered territory. Unchartered territory makes the heart palpitate. That's the formula. So know it and accept it, I say. And remember that these heart-palpatating states of change (ok, stress) might be preferable to being in a boredom-induced rut.

A coaching instructor recently told her class, The more you accept all of yourself, the easier life is.

Nobody said change was easy. But it's inevitable. Enjoy thinking about all the possibilities that can come from it.

And what if you prepared for the best?