Stress- It's a killer

Our 8 year old son LOVES everything military. Has since he was little. When he saw the show "Surviving the Cut" on Netflix he had to watch it. That show was made for him.

Yesterday after getting his chores done (and doing them so awesomely I should add) he turned the show on. On the episode I watched with him one of the instructors said "Getting through the training is 10% physical and 90% mental." Another thing that stood out to me as we're watching the show is seeing people seize up during the swimming exercises. They become physically and mentally exhausted and blacked out. Their bodies froze or seized up on them.

Merry was over and watched the show with us. She's a National Guard member so after the show we were talking about what we watched, her experiences in training and life in general. I was telling her how I can turn my neck so much more then I could a few weeks ago, except at the grocery store and church the past Sunday. I told her how my neck felt so stiff and I felt like I couldn't move normally. She said it sounded like the guys on the show. They were so exhausted physically and they couldn't mentally push themselves on and in response their bodies seized or froze on them. Seizing was their bodies response to being pushed too hard for too long.

It got me thinking back to a few days ago when I was talking with some friends about mental struggles. One thing we talking about was the bodies response to stress. Your body will fight, take flight or freeze.

In the conversation with Merry I was able to see the mental side of my physical symptoms. My bodies response to the stress the last few weeks isn't fighting, or taking flight-it's freezing.

I was able to see that when I get overwhelmed or even sometimes think I'm going to be overwhelmed I seize up. I freeze. My body gets stiff and rigid and I can't move normally. Mentally I can't get my body to physically work correctly.

The first time I did the stairs at physical therapy I froze. I walked up confidently, but then I froze. I had to mentally tell my foot to step up.

I'd thought that all my symptoms were physical side effects of the stroke, but now I'm starting to see that my neurologist was probably correct. A lot of the symptoms I have aren't physical but more my brain slowing the connection downs so physically I can't do things like before.

So the trainer saying getting through the tasks are 10% physical and 90% mental makes a whole lot more sense to me now.

Mentally I'd hit a wall and it showed in physical symptoms. I had debilitating headaches. I had nights this past fall where my chest was so tight I wasn't sure I'd wake up in the morning. I'd have panic attacks driving. I was overwhelmed. Impatient. Not enjoying life. Stressed out. I wasn't sleeping good. My brain was constantly going. I wasn't managing my stress well. I'd hit my mental wall, but I didn't realize it because I was having physical symptoms. I thought my problems were all physical not mental.

Man was I wrong!

The phrase "Stress it's a killer" is so true. I wish I'd learned this sooner.