Stressful environments seem to be the backbone of our way of life. As a society we often hear people brag about how stressful their days are and how many errands they have to run. They boast about how consumed their lives are with "things to do" that they do not have time to eat correctly, exercise or catch up with friends for a little comraderie.

I was not impressed!

I remember during my college days, I had a professor who loved walking around with his arms full of papers, books and slide presentations. His arms were so full he could not even push his glasses up on his nose. When anyone would walk into his office, he would joke and direct our attention to his cluttered and disorganized space and make comments about his busy life. I remember standing in his doorway thinking, "Why are you bragging to me about this mess. I am not impressed." He would invariably walk into our class late and then keep us later that one extra minute, just long enough to make us hurry to our next class and possibly make us late.

Excuses fool no one!

How many times have you heard someone give you the excuse that they were late because they got behind a bus? More than likely, the person left late and gave a lame excuse that they got caught behind a slow moving vehicle. As if driving behind a slow moving vehicle lasted for miles and there was absolutely no way to move around it. Excuses fool no one except the one delivering the excuse.

Bonding over wounds.

Last month I sat in a restaurant waiting for my breakfast and noticed a woman sit down alone at a large table next to me. It was about 8 o' clock in the morning. She sat quietly checking her watch surrounded by five empty chairs before the first person arrived 10 minutes later. I decided to amuse myself and watch this woman's patience and keep time with her. By the time the sixth woman arrived it was 8:51 a.m. and one by one they had their excuse at hand and mused about their laborious morning. I was witnessing a gathering of friends bonding over difficulty, hardship and wounds, except the first woman. I could see she was not at all entertained by their lack of consideration for her time and effort to arrive early enough to secure sitting for six. All I could think was "birds of a feather, flock together," and sooner or later this one woman would spread her wings and fly away to a group of friends where she could grow and soar rather than be held back, stagnated and stifled. She was clearly out of her element.

Traffic may be the problem.

Sometimes traffic really is the problem and we can get a closer look at how cluttered our lives are when we sit in traffic. We use the terms like, "caught up in, traffic jam, depressed, standstill, slow moving, bottleneck, idle and gridlock which can lead to anger, provocation, annoyance, and frustration. Then we walk in the door at home or work and greet someone we care about or have to look at all day.

Traffic leads to . . .

When we think of a condition of the body, whether it be a state of mind or physical illness, we use the terms, "in a rut, stagnation, chaos, clutter, congestion, stiffness, weight, and burden which can lead to depression, self-hate, doubt, fear, worry, anxiety and concern.

It takes movement and action.

Congestion and stagnation on the highway, in our office or at a gathering is a perfect example of how we can create this same impression in the body. Either way, it takes movement and action to clear the chaos. A messy desk will simply not miraculously clean itself without a direct influence and response on our part. I know this to be true because I have already tried to clear a messy atmosphere by merely hoping it away.

It takes more than words.

Our bodies respond the same way to a disease, illness, condition, syndrome, ache or pain. I'm thinking hard, but I struggle to find one condition that cannot be helped by changing the diet or incorporating exercise into the daily plan. In other words, it takes movement and action to change our surroundings. It takes more than words like, "I'm gonna and I plan to." It takes motion and activity to get traffic flowing. We remove downed power lines and fallen trees after a storm to clear the highways. We flush toilets with water and vomit when we eat a critter that does not benefit our body. Again, movement works. Adding one more errand to our "to do list" is not inspiring unless it is done with consideration and thought of how it may impact our lives and the lives around us in a positive way.

Slow down, regroup and move again.

I once did business with a company who grew so fast and large that I could no longer get good service. Sometimes when we move so swiftly through our lives we can no longer hear our children's laughter, notice our loved one's beautiful eyes, appreciate our parents love, or tend to our own needs. Then it's time to slow down, regroup and put action and movement where it belongs.

And for Goodness Sake, quit from bragging about how chaotic and disruptive your Life is and do something about it. Believe me, this kind of bragging impresses no one.

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