Comments on: Stress Management to Help You Succeed

By: Lolabees

Lolabees — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 02:48:36 +0000

In reply to Eric R.

Eric- I must have forgotten to reply to you! I love this idea of a crossword puzzle. What a fun little distraction. I used to go on midday walks at lunch, and that helped me a lot.

Also about the dentists who don’t seem to be bothered by the bears… I’ve always wondered how?!? Are they just oblivious? I used to think you had to be delusional and not really in tune to be able to ignore the challenges. I also thought maybe it was certain personality types. Now I think it’s about perspective– what some of us see as problems, others just don’t see at all. It’s quite interesting how we can all see things so differently!

By: Eric R

Eric R — Fri, 13 Jul 2018 01:00:45 +0000

PS to my above comment. First of all, sorry for misspelling “Columbine” above! Secondly, you are so right about taking short breaks and breathers during your work day, to help relieve the stres. My former business partner and I obtained a copy of the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle every Monday. We spent all our week working on it. We were completely committed to it — each filling in words during breaks, like when a patient was getting numb, etc. We’d have discussions about the clues and possible answers, and took it as seriously as dentistry. It was such a complete distraction that it worked wonders!

By: Eric R

Eric R — Fri, 13 Jul 2018 00:46:53 +0000

I think a lot of health practitioners are guilty of the same thing — at least the ones who are “empaths” like me (in loose terms). My opthamologist has told me of his same feelings about that “bear” patient of the day. Yet I know other practitioners who naturally seem to not let any patient bother them (hmm…. not to be rude, but they also seem arrogant and narcissistic!). Who knows…maybe they are just farther along in the learning process of life than I am.

Thanks for sharing the photos of the coumbines…. absolutely beautiful! I had no idea. I love being exposed to new things like this.

Btw, if you ever get out to Washington, the trail I referred to is the Lava Canyon trail. It is worth going on — check out the photos online. There is actually a cool suspension bridge as well. Just watch out for the bears. And middle-school kids! Ha!

By: Lolabees

Lolabees — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 23:01:30 +0000

In reply to Eric R.

Eric, I love it! You get my point, having had a similar experience! That bear story is so funny. I love the irony at the end with the bus full of kids. Haha!

We have bear warnings out here too, and we keep saying we need to bring some bear spray with us. And yet, we never do! That is such a good example of how the stress altered your experience. I also love your in office example and how it is your bear. So true!! I can’t count how many times I did similar things, and the worrying is ALWAYS worse than real life! So I guess it’s how can we ignore the bears and see more columbines?! 😉

By: Eric R

Eric R — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 19:31:42 +0000

Definitely need to comment on this post, because I had a very similar experince while hiking with a friend in the area of Mount St. Helens a few years ago. Looking back at the photos that he took, I thought to myself… “Was I really there? I don’t remember how beautiful that trail was. Was the water in the river really that blue?” It was like I was looking at a different place. The problem was, I had spotted a sign at the trailhead — advising hikers what to do if they encountered a bear along the trail. All I could think about on the hike was that. “How would I react? There is no cell phone service. Would I panic? What if I did the wrong thing? This is too dangerous!”

Instead of being in a calm state of awareness of the surroundings (which is all that is really required), I felt of constrained by fear and worry…. and missed most of the beauty around me. Chances are there was no bear around, and if there had been, we would have done what was needed, and been fine. But I was so overly cautious and distracted that I missed an awesome hike…even though I was on it.

Funny ending to the story… as we were leaving, I heard some strange noises in the woods. Could that be the den of angry bears waiting to attack us. No, it was actually three bus-loads of middle school kids and their teachers on the same trail. Boy did I feel like a fool!

Kind of a dental office parallel in this…. I would see the name of a “problem-patient” on the schedule, and my day would be ruined. Never mind the numerous compliments I’d probably receive from other patients that day, or the virtually imperceptable composite on #8 I was able to do (and should have been really proud of), etc., etc., etc., I’d be focusing on that “bear” waiting for me in the chair.

Strange though, the problem-patient never turned out to be as big a problem as I worked them up to be. The bear never showed up this time either.

Amazing how your mind can work against you. I had to re-learn how it can work FOR you as well.