Show p Health for the Wealth of It The Human Side SideBy By Diane Director of Drug Alcohol Education The coming week Oct 21 through 26 is our annual Ribbon Week Ribbon Week is an awareness awareness awareness aware aware- ness campaign that focuses on alcohol alcohol alcohol alco alco- hol drug and violence prevention But we have taken a broader view to focus on healthy lifestyles It is a good time to take a look on how you are managing your life It is important tant to take care of yourself in all aspects of life alcohol drugs stress exercise healthy eating and attitude Lifelong vitality is not dependent on luck chance or genetics alone Well-being Well over a long span of time is function of how carefully we use our time energy and resources for maintaining our personal vitality There are many areas that study the influence of the mind on the body and visa versa In the longitudinal longitudinal longitudinal dinal study of the effect of stress on wellness at the University of Chicago it was found that there were key el elements ments for sf staying Trey They were exercise work support and ai d psychological hardiness In the area of exercise those people in the top levels of health exercised moderately moderately moderately mod mod- three to four times a week to reduce stress and body tension In Inthe Inthe Inthe the area of work support most of them viewed themselves as being important primarily by their boss or immediate supervisor This data supports the notion that stress is 90 percent perceptual Life is 10 percent percent percent per per- cent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it In the area of psychological hardiness hardiness hardiness har har- diness there were three components of measurement that dealt with changes control and commitment This was the most important overall factor for staying healthy Those subjects who scored the highest in inthis inthis inthis this area saw changes as challenges They believed that they were primarily primarily primarily marily in control of their health They were committed to their jobs and relationships because they believed that they make a difference in the lives of people around them We need to continue to maximize maximize maximize maxi maxi- mize vitality and minimize stress by avoiding the three most common stress traps mislabeling misspending misspending misspending mis mis- spending and over The three skill for avoiding them are prioritizing and letting go go- o Strategies to practice at school and w include 1 The marathon strategy always try to refuel yourself alone the way 2 Physical self care use it before you lose attitude 3 Healthy ideas Natural Highs finding physical mental turn-ons turn that are naturally healthy and not self destructive 4 Attitude readjustment- readjustment preventing preventing preventing pre pre- venting or hardening hardening hardening hard ening of the attitudes 5 Whisper skills talking to yourself gently 6 Spiritual depth letting you soul catch up with you 7 Your support network fostering fostering fostering foster foster- ing key friendships Understanding ones one's own chemistry chemistry chemistry chem chem- and the ability to balance lifes life's priorities are key ingredients to move beyond wellness Our health and the health of our family friends and workers co-workers depend upon it Ribbon Week is a great time to give yourself a health check For more information about Ribbon Week of other questions contact Diane Cashel or Dee Dee Lobato ar |