World of Psychology
Self-Development as Balm
– Bosses who seem clueless to your job requirements; colleagues who can’t relate to you (or vice versa); the stress of deadlines and dissatisfaction of being in a job you are not even sure you belong in.
- Family members who throw plans into disarray, disregard you and have you questioning your commitment (as well as your sanity). Perhaps adult siblings who ask for money or come to you for advice, only for you to soon find yourself involved in maddening family triangles, or aunts and uncles who pull you into long-entrenched but silly feuds.
- Then of course there are friends who you would like to shake to knock some sense or self-reflection into.
Get the picture?
How do you cope with the trials and tribulations of being human and having to live and work among others? Laugh it off? (That’s a good element, actually.)
Acceptance, compromise, courage when really required — these are all noble and important and at the far other end of the spectrum from laughter.
But the balm that beats all, for the problems that really plague us interpersonally and professionally, is self-development. Nothing sends challenges packing quicker than a little introspection and self involvement. (No, not narcissistic self involvement.)
All the above-mentioned challenges and more can temporarily vanish, periodically dissipate and just plain lose their grip on what you see as as your life and identity with some sense of self worth. Simply finding ourselves behind the mess that often is the outer world — our chaotic office space, our cluttered family room, our ugly political arenas — can make all that other stuff take the side or back seat that it really should be occupying.
If your life really is a big mess due to situations beyond your control, then you can create an internal space that can stimulate you, be your harbor and even guide your larger path professionally.
What calms you? Woodworking, walks in the woods, gardening, hanging with your dog or cat, playing music, painting, delving into family history, learning another language, exploring new sites? Figure out what is your balm. You’ll probably find your self in the process, and be on the way toward alleviating the messes of life and much more.
What fascinates and passionately motivates you? Maybe it’s one of those items mentioned above as calming agents. Or maybe it’s tinkering with mechanical systems, live theater, jogging, studying the stars, writing poetry, working with youth, coming up with new theories for work challenges, organizing spaces, coordinating people and projects.
What makes you tick is what takes you away from troubles. Go toward it. You will be going toward a larger sense of your life and self.
You may already know what grounds you and what energizes you but apply them far too infrequently in your life. Increase it, if even in small increments.
Surprise may come. Did we forget about all that described dysfunction and trouble? No, it is still there, likely. But you have assigned its place in the larger sense of who you are. By going toward calm and captivating experiences, you’ll be shocked to discover previous personal pain alleviated in the moment, stings of rejection at work or indecision on home matters lessened, the itch quieted of desiring something more but not knowing what in your career. By this new “escape” from the mess, you just may find solutions to those larger matters at play in your life, as well — all by reflecting and acting on your self.
Psych Central News
Increased Risk of Heart Disease Linked to Decreased Brain Function
“Young adults may think the consequences of smoking or being overweight are years down the road, but they aren’t,” said Hanneke Joosten, M.D., lead author and nephrology fellow at the University Medical Center in Groningen, The Netherlands.
“Most people know the negative effects of heart risk factors such as heart attack, stroke and renal impairment, but they do not realize it affects cognitive health. What’s bad for the heart is also bad for the brain.”
The Dutch study included 3,778 people between the ages of 35 and 82 who underwent cognitive function tests that measured the ability to plan and reason and to initiate and switch tasks. A separate test gauged memory function. Their risk for a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years was determined using the Framingham Risk Score.
Researchers found that people with the most heart disease risks performed 50 percent worse on cognitive tests compared to people with the lowest risk profile.
They also found that the Framingham Risk Score, age, diabetes, bad cholesterol and smoking were linked to poor cognitive scores.
According to the researchers, participants who smoked between one and 15 cigarettes daily had a decrease in cognitive score of 2.41 points, while those smoking more than 16 cigarettes daily had a decrease of 3.43 points.
Memory scores also had a similar association.
Two risk factors — smoking and diabetes — were strong determinants of cognitive function, according to the study.
“There clearly is a dose response among smokers, with heavy smokers having a lower cognitive function than light or non-smokers,” Joosten said.
“It is likely that smoking cessation has a beneficial effect on cognitive function. Smoking cessation programs might not only prevent cancer, stroke and cardiovascular events, but also cognitive damage.”
The research was published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.
Source: American Heart Association
Abstract of brain photo by shutterstock.
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