Category Archives: health

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Why So Fearful?

I had read an interesting article many years ago about culture.  This was in college so forgive me for not remembering the author or name of the article.  The premise of it was that the fears of a culture are more telling than the achievements.  Blew my socks off.  The idea is that what scares us tells more about us than all of the accomplishments.  Ponder that for a moment.

Fear is very powerful.  Franklin D. Roosevelt said that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.  In the novel “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” the boggert caught by Professor Lupin would turn into a dementor when Harry approached it.  Which meant that Harry was more afraid of fear than Lord Voldemort the most evil wizard of the time.  Harry’s best friend Ron was scared of spiders.  Other people in the novel were afraid of snakes, full moons, etc.  What students of Hogwarts learned by facing the boggert was to face their fears and overcome them.  Well, at least make them less scary.

Thinking about the article for a moment, as a culture or society that expresses so much through the internet and social media, could these outlets become amplifiers for our fears?  Just as the “boggert” of Harry Potter stories reflected fear, could the internet and social media be doing the same thing?  I remember when the internet was beginning.  One of the things that was said in praise of it was that you could find anything on the internet.  And when social media started, it was said that you could find anyone or any group you could ever want to identify with on social media.  It could be said that there is good and bad aspects to both of those things.  And I am not going to go into what is on television and the news.  (War, inflation, disease, hate.)  Scary things happen in the world.

Believe it or not, there are benefits to fear.  What might those be, you ask?  Don’t worry.  I have a list:

  1. Fear keeps you safe.  You have an internal danger alarm.  It notifies us of dangerous situations and compels us to take action.  Helps you make a wise decision.  For example, if you are crossing a street and a car comes toward you, your inner alarm urges you to get out of the street and away from the car.
  2. Fear helps you lose weight.  Feeling a bit of fear helps burn calories.  While walking through the haunted house a ghost jumps out at you.  Your body releases a surge of adrenaline.  Adrenaline causes your metabolism to go into high gear, causing you to burn more calories.
  3. Fear temporarily boosts immunity.  In 2009, Coventry University in the United Kingdom did a study where Scientists tested white blood cells in participants.  They then scared the participants and measured the number of activated white blood cells.  Activated white blood cells are the ones that help fight disease and repair the body.  After being scared, the participants had an increased number of activated white blood cells.
  4. Feeling fear can be exciting.  Feeling fear, in the right dose, makes you feel alive.  Stepping out of your comfort zone can be exciting.  Have you ever given a speech or had a role in a play?  Feeling nervous before you start speaking or the play starts leads to the feeling of excitement and being alive after the speech or play has ended.
  5. Fear gives you a natural high and sense of empowerment.  Not just adrenaline, the body releases dopamine and the endorphins, serotonin and oxytocin.  Serotonin helps the brain work more efficiently under stressful situations.  Fear is energy.
  6. Fear relaxes you.  That’s right.  You read it correctly.  The adrenaline has surged and dopamine has been released into the body increasing blood flow.  After the fear or situation has been faced.  You are now in a safe location and there is no danger.  Your body has had influx of oxygen to the heart and muscles.  When the body comes off of this natural influx, it relaxes completely in a healthy way.
  7. Fear helps you stay in the moment.  Focus.  The hormone norepinephrine helps keep you focused instead of panicking in stressful situations.
  8. Fear helps you socialize and bonds you to other people.  If our ancient ancestors had not bonded together and helped each other survive, our society would not exist.  It is in our best interests to help one another.  The hormone Oxytocin produces pro-social behavior.  Bonding.  Every see a race, like Ironman, and notice that the contestants competing against each other also help each other by encouraging each other.  The hormone Oxytocin in action.
  9. Fear allows you to live life to the fullest.  Fear tends to cause people to make one of two choices.  They can either stop and limit themselves or face their fear head on and expand the possibilities of their lives.  Personally, I am in favor of the second option.
  10. Fear gives clarity on what is important.  Fear makes one realize that the only time is now.  How often a terminal diagnosis or finding out about a disease like cancer causes people to live their life fully.  Spending time with those they love and doing things that they have always wanted to do.  The fears they had before become less important than spending the time they have to the fullest.

Maybe fear can help us as a society.  Help us be better people.  Learn from our mistakes.  Make the world a little less scary.  I certainly hope so.

Ghost.arrow

Featured Image is from the above listed company

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Know Thyself

With the release of the movie “Matrix Resurrections,” I was inspired to watch the original “Matrix” film again.  (I have not seen the newest film, at the time that I am writing this, so no spoilers please.)  I had not watched the “Matrix” in a long time and several things caught my attention.  However, this is not by any stretch of imagination a film review.

After watching the original “Matrix” film, I was discussing with friends about how ground-breaking this film was.  Special effects have been changed forever thanks to this movie.  There are a lot of really good life lessons in this film as well.  The biggest is the question “Are you really experiencing your life?” and “What does it mean to be alive?”  Whole philosophy classes could be taught based on the “Matrix” movie.

One of my favorite scenes in the first movie was when Neo is sent to meet with the Oracle.  He is in a room with other potential candidates, most of them children.  One child was bending a spoon and makes memorable comment “Do not try to bend the spoon.  That is impossible.  Only instead try to realize the truth.  Neo asks, What’s that?  The boy, There is no spoon.”  Philosophical question, “What is the nature of reality?”

When Neo goes into the kitchen to see the Oracle, she is baking cookies.  She directs Neo to look at a plaque on her wall with the words “Temet Nosce.”  Temet Nosce, or when translated from Latin to English, means know thyself.  I always thought this was interesting direction.  We are all trying to find out who we are and where we are going in a universe of limitless possibilities.

How hard it is to know oneself.  We are told things about ourselves from the instant we are born.   We have our own ideas of who we are.  There are things that we do not like to face about ourselves.  Sometimes our ego gets into the way.  Sometimes someone else’s ego gets in the way.

The journey of knowing who we are is the adventure of our lifetime.  The point of this journey is not to arrive.  It is to live, become and to grow.  Discover yourself every day.

I would go on to say that the Oracle missed something in her advice to Neo.  Not only should we work on knowing ourselves, but one needs to learn to love thyself as well.   There is a quote attributed to Buddha, “Love yourself and the rest will follow.”  Love is an important step in knowing oneself.  It is the basis of compassion and forgiveness which help us in loving others.

Have you heard the saying that you cannot truly love anyone else until you love yourself.  In the gospel of Matthew from the Christian Bible, Jesus is quoted as saying that the second greatest commandment is “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

The month of February is often associated with Valentines Day, an annual festival to celebrate romantic love, friendship and admiration.  Every year on 14 February people celebrate this day by sending messages of love and affection to partners, family and friends.  For Valentine’s Day this year, I challenge you to follow the advice of the Oracle from the “Matrix” and know thyself.  But I further challenge you to love thyself and as attributed to Buddha allow the rest to follow.  Allow forgiveness and compassion, for yourself and for your neighbor, following the second commandment as quoted by Jesus.  This year let’s make Valentine’s Day a celebration of love that not only begins with us, but within us.

Temet Nosce!

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M is for Migraine

This post is for those lucky humans out there that have never had the experience of a migraine headache.

The reason I am writing this post is because of something that was said to me recently by someone who has never had the experience of having a migraine headache.  She said, “You need to go to the doctor.  Wouldn’t it be better if you could find some medicine, or change your diet, or an exercise or something to make these ‘headaches’ go away.”

Having recently read a post about choosing to be offended, I thought long and hard about whether I was offended and whether I should be writing this post.  I am not offended by the speaker’s words.  I realize that they didn’t understand because they haven’t experienced a migraine.  It is easy to be critical of others when you don’t understand what they are experiencing.  I felt the need to write this post to help this person and others understand.

Migraines are NOT the same as headaches, a friend, who also gets migraines, reminded me recently.  Migraines can cause someone to vomit.  Smells and light can make them feel nauseous.  Some people when experiencing a migraine cannot stand any noises.  Others experience an aura.  Migraines can cause someone to be sensitive to hot or cold.  Cluster migraines are a series of migraines that can continue for several days in a row.  A migraine may have certain symptoms, but they are different for everyone who experiences them.

My typical migraine often starts with my eyes feeling weird and the onset of an aura.  Once the aura has finished, the pain and nausea begins.  I am often overly warm and need to keep cool during a migraine.  Sometimes I throw up.  I often cannot stand light, sounds or even smells. I have to lay down in a cold dark room.  This is a typical migraine for me.  However, a migraine can be different each time a person has one.

I have been to the doctor.  My migraines are triggered by excessive stress.  I have tried a couple different medications.  Ibuprofen taken at the onset of the aura often lets me manage my migraine.  But not always.  Certain types of coffee cause me to have what I call an insta-migraine.  I don’t drink them and avoid them.  Too much processed foods with dyes can cause a migraine.  I try to avoid those as well.  Linen scented candles and room sprays cause me to have a migraine.  I don’t purchase those products and try to avoid them if I smell them.

A bad migraine year for me is five to fifteen migraines.  I have been migraine free for years at a time.  I have friends who have three to five migraines a week.  For one of them, Botox injections work.  The other friend gave up dairy and grain.  That was three years ago and she has a lot fewer migraines.

Be kind to someone who is suffering from a migraine.  Depending on their symptoms, even speaking to them could be causing them pain.  Understand that having a migraine is not something they can control and their isn’t a quick fix.  They probably have been to see a doctor or doctors.  The person who is having the migraine knows what they need to help get their migraine under control.

If you do not experience migraines, I hope that you found this article helpful.  If you do and would like to add to this post, please leave a comment.