I was watching a National Geographic documentary on Stress, and thought you may enjoy some of the insights I gleaned from it.

• Social Affiliation can alleviate chronic stress. Especially when we are giving input to others. It can combat deterioration of arteries, brain-cell death and the allocation of fat to harmful areas. Eish! In other words, being around people who don’t stress you out, but are instead committed to your success, is a REALLY good thing. And it’s especially good when you are contributing, or encouraging the growth of the group members.

So why do I tend to be around Type-A, ambitious people a fair amount? Because I’m an entrepreneur. And that’s what I’m meant to be, right? Wrong! I just want to help people live well. So why shouldn’t I start by creating (or perhaps merely becoming more proactive with) my own kind of “support group”? And benefit the members. The 3-piece band I play in is one such environment. There are many others – is it the book club for you?

• Control is important. Or rather, the feeling of being a respected leader in a field. The more “in-control” we feel, the less stressed we feel. So, a boss carries less stress than a junior.

But even the junior can be in control in an area important -or significant – to her – e.g. music, art, leading a karate dojo or captaining the touch-rugby team – and thus not exhibit the same stress levels as colleagues! Viktor Frankl, author of “Man’s Search for Meaning” (sexist jokes aside), said that Auschwitz survivors all had one thing in common: “Something significant still to do.”

If we can figure out what really makes us come alive, and is vitally important to us, we can choose to do more of this, lead the pack in it, and lower our stress levels.

Thank-you, NG, and thank-you, friends, who lower my stress and make me live longer