Soulati-'TUDE!

Eat Chocolate! By Jayme Soulati

For nearly a week blog fodder mojo has stymied me. I have been paralyzed due to my disgust for the state of affairs in this world that profoundly affects my psyche and healthy outlook for my future. I wasn’t planning on writing about it until just now when the August 28, 2012 Wall Street Journal Health & Wellness section caught my eye. It seems fortuitous that I can validate my thinking and my blog posts with a national story that only enhances the fact that I am a worrywart.

The story, “Tricks from the Elderly to Stop Worrying; People Learn to Put Aside Negative Emotions and Focus on the Present, Which Leads to Healthy Aging,” makes a bold statement I hope to emulate when I’m older but it won’t help me today:

“The elderly learn to disentangle themselves from feelings of negativity and seem to focus more on present situations that bring pleasure, rather than on the future, researchers say.  They also tend to process negative information less deeply than positive information.”

And, there’s a great chart that says people in midlife tend to worry the most from about age 40 to early 50s, after which feelings of worry decrease. Talk about validation! There you have it; my paralysis of fear and worry corroborated by the Wall Street Journal!

So, I’ll get all these things off my chest and on to yours, and I’m hoping I’ll feel so much the better when I’m double nickels:

• Mr. Akin running for U.S. Senate is disturbing. As a woman, as a mother, as voter, as a citizen of a free and progressive country where the fight for equality, the right to vote and the right to make choices I expect more from U.S. “leaders” who want to run this country and who insist on making ignorant statements. Does he have a daughter, a wife, a granddaughter?
• The daily news of killings and shootings of innocent people attending religious institutions, movie theaters, schools, and retail establishments is out of control. I am seriously contemplating learning how to manage and carry a weapon of self-defense.
• The cost of consumer goods and services continues to skyrocket yet no consumer or family is earning more income to support the ability to pay more at the cash register and fuel pump (today’s gas per gallon in my region is $3.95). American families are being gouged; something has to give.
•  The medical and health care system in this country is in utter disarray. Hospitals are buying physician practices and charging triple the amount for the same MRI a person had three months ago. Insurance premiums go up annually (I have a $4500 deductible and so does my daughter; yet, I now pay $400/month for health insurance we can’t use, and I pay cash for dental.)
• States are fighting down party lines against and for Affordable Health Care; what about the residents in those states who align with the new health care act who want those benefits but can’t due to governors who are blocking programs? What about those in the states who don’t want to buy health insurance but have to?
• How can I afford to help pay for my child’s college when tuition and text books are skyrocketing annually with no end in sight?
• Can I retire ever knowing I never had a corporate job to begin socking money into retirement early and knowing I will never have enough to be comfortable when I’m old?
• If I out live the Medicare program and Social Security runs dry (as I expect it to), how will my golden years be supplemented with the money I’ve paid in since I was a13-year-old corn detassler?
• People in this country hate each other so much, and I hear frequently how some wouldn’t mind seeing a few politicians lose more than an election. The anger is palpable and it’s harmful to positive attitude, and caring for human kind.
• There’s been a swarm of earthquakes 130 miles east of San Diego over several days. Is the big one coming? There is drought in the U.S. racking up prices for grain, beef and other commodities. Rain and tropical storms are pummeling coastlines and the European continent. How can any of us prepare for eventual catastrophe?

Our children’s future is bleak. My future is pressurized by the need to provide for my child and ensure that I, as an aging parent with aging parents and a 10-year-old, am NOT a burden to my family.

There’s a lot on my plate and on yours (feel free to add your stressors below; it feels better).

On occasion I have to dump it all upside down and see where the balls land. I have to do a better job managing the stress, and I have to do it with exercise, proper nutrition and love.

May I have a hug, please?