We miss you Tom!

Whole 9 recently posted an article about stress addiction, who is susceptible to it, and the inherent dangers of becoming a stress junkie.  It’s one thing to be a type-A “get-er-done” kind of person but another altogether to repeatedly put your body into a fight or flight scenario over something as simple as a deadline (as I sit here typing this late Thursday night).  Whole 9 puts it best:

Procrastination is only one favorite strategy of the stress junkie – others include perfectionism, obsessing about obligations, and inventing catastrophic fantasies about What Could Go Wrong. The common factor in each of these scenarios is the stress junkie’s single-minded devotion to repeatedly creating stressful situations.

On paper, you might think, “That sounds awful.  Who would do that to themselves?”  But in reality, if you’re a stress junkie, you kind of dig it.  No, you really dig it – the buzz that comes from swimming in stress hormones morning, noon and night.  Until, of course, you stop.

The problem is, you are literally addicted to the stress response, which means it’s impossible for you tojust slow down.  Plus, your behavior is easy to justify (rationalize).   I mean, it’s not like you’re addicted to something that makes you lay around on the couch all day eating Doritos and playing video games.  You’re working, or exercising, or running a household or taking care of your children.  And everyone from Gym Jones to Jack Welch to Oprah herself would say there is no such thing as working too hard, right?

Your body, that’s who.  And it’s already starting to rebel in ways that seriously compromise your health and fitness.

How do you know if you’re a stress junkie?  According to Whole 9, if you answer yes to one or more of the below questions, you very well may be:

• Are you always on tight deadlines, multi-tasking within an inch of your life or creating ridiculous schedules for yourself?
• Are you a perfectionist in everything you do, even when it doesn’t really matter?
• Are you an inattentive listener, checking email, paying bills or cleaning while on the phone?
• Are you constantly worrying about “what if,” stuck in an endless loop of dreaming up worst case scenarios?
• Do you rush everywhere, all the time, because there are other things elsewhere you should be doing?
• Have you lost all sense of patience, losing your cool when faced with even a minor telephone hold, appointment delay or grocery store line?
• Are you always saying, “Things will calm down soon,” but they never, ever do?
• Does the idea of a restorative yoga class, meditation or sitting quietly for 15 minutes make you want to crawl out of your skin?

Check out Part 2 of their Stress Addicts Anonymous series to find out how being a stress junkie can affect your health as well as 10 tips to kick the stress habit.

WOD 11.11.11

“Blake”

Four rounds for time of:
100 foot Walking lunge with 45lb plate held overhead
30 Box jump, 24 inch box
20 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
10 Handstand push-ups

U.S. Navy Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician David Blake McLendon, 30, of Thomasville, Georgia, assigned to Naval Special Warfare Group 2 Support Activity in Norfolk, Virginia, was killed September 21, 2010, in a helicopter crash during combat operations in the Zabul province of Afghanistan. McLendon is survived by his wife Kate McLendon, his parents David and Mary-Ann McLendon, his brother Chris McLendon, and his sister Kelly Lockman.