But all beautiful things, inherently, have this function -
to excite the viewers toward sublime thought.
Glory to the world, that good teacher.
Among the swans there is none
called the least, or the greatest.
I believe in kindness. Also in mischief.
Also in singing,
especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.
As for the body,
it is solid and strong and curious and full of detail;
it wants to polish itself; it wants to love another body;
it is the only vessel in the world that can hold,
in a mix of power and sweetness:
words, song, gesture, passion, ideas, ingenuity,
devotion, merriment, vanity, and virtue.
Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.”
- Mary Oliver
○
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for! To quote from Whitman, ‘O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless - of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?’ Answer: That you are here - that life exists, and that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
"We're all sinking in the same boat here. We're all bored and desperate and waiting for something to happen. Waiting for life to get better. Waiting for things to change. Waiting for that one person to finally notice us. We're all waiting. But we also need to realize that we all have the power to make those changes for ourselves."
"Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the 'transcendent' and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you."
"The impact of the Amazon Effect on the retail industry has been nothing short of transformative, giving rise to what is now known as the "Retail Apocalypse." As consumers increasingly turn to online shopping, brick-and-mortar stores have faced a relentless onslaught of challenges. Amazon's remarkable growth has reshaped the retail landscape, driving a significant shift in consumer behavior. Since its entry into the market in 2005, Amazon has been responsible for nearly half of all retail industry growth, while accounting for a staggering 31% of all retail purchases. This massive market share has left many traditional retailers struggling to compete. The once-vibrant shopping districts that housed bustling stores are now witnessing a wave of closures and bankruptcies, with over 500,000 retail stores closed since 2005. While other factors have contributed to this retail upheaval, Amazon's dominance in various sectors, from books to electronics, has played a pivotal role in shaping the retail apocalypse we see today."
"We are seeing that the average person in small business is really beginning to feel the pain of this economy. We are also starting to see that builder sentiment is starting to break. Houses don’t get sold without incentives."
Youghal, Ireland - "When did China become an enemy? Why did it become an enemy? These are questions for the future, along with ‘when did we become the bad guys?’ But since we aim to stay ahead of the news cycle, we will ask now: Does China threaten to invade California? Does it hijack US ships…and crucify the crews in Tiananmen Square? What did it do that was so bad? The answer is, of course, nothing. But it doesn’t need to do anything. It only has to exist – as a commercial rival…as a ‘strategic competitor’…as an alternative way of doing things; that’s enough to set the great US jaw against it.
Backtracking…The latest boondoggle war – in the Ukraine – is not going so well. Responsible Statecraft: "Now, two months into that offensive and with summer’s end nearing, that scenario looks increasingly unlikely. The Ukrainian offensive has by all accounts stalled, as often exhausted, inexperienced, and hastily trained troops are running headfirst into dug-in and heavily mined Russian defenses, at horrific human cost."
This is all being reported, too, in major American media, including CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times. These and other outlets, which have been explicitly supportive of Ukraine’s war effort, have begun painting quite a bleak picture of the situation on the ground.
Ukrainian forces are expending material at an unsustainable rate, using up 90,000 shells a month when the Pentagon is only producing a third of that, while 20 percent of the NATO weaponry it deployed was damaged or destroyed in the first two weeks. In light of the limited gains made by the offensive, President Joe Biden is now asking Congress for $20.6 billion more in aid for Ukraine, stressing that “the United States is committed to maintaining strong global opposition to Russia’s illegal war.”
But while the Biden Administration is keen to stay in its quagmire on the Eurasian steppes, US foreign policy experts are ‘pivoting’ towards a more dangerous boondoggle. The ‘neo-realists’ are urging the US to prepare for a showdown with a new enemy: China.
Counter to Intelligence: China has sent the US about $1 billion worth of goods per day for the last 10 years…and gotten only dollars in exchange. (That’s roughly the net trade deficit over that period). What thanks does it get? The FBI: "The counterintelligence and economic espionage efforts emanating from the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party are a grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States."
The Washington Post elaborates: "China harvests masses of data on Western targets, documents show. These include a $320,000 Chinese state media software program that mines Twitter and Facebook to create a database of foreign journalists and academics; a $216,000 Beijing police intelligence program that analyzes Western chatter on Hong Kong and Taiwan; and a cybercenter in Xinjiang, home to most of China’s Uyghur population, that catalogs the mainly Muslim minority group’s language content abroad. “Now we can better understand the underground network of anti-China personnel,” said a Beijing-based analyst who works for a unit reporting to China’s Central Propaganda Department."
Horrors! China is listening in. And here’s CNBC: "China is a growing threat to national security, U.S. companies and American workers, U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo says. “Over the past decade, China’s leaders have made clear that they do not plan to pursue political and economic reform and are instead pursuing an alternative vision of their country’s future,” Raimondo said in a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Raimondo said Chinese leaders have made it apparent over the last decade that “increasing the role of the state society and economy,” “constraining the free flow of capital” and “decoupling in technology areas of the future” is more important than political and economic reform."
What to make of it? Is this a real thing…is there a real threat buried somewhere in those words? Or is this like the ‘conspiracy’ charges against Donald Trump…with so much swirling bluff and bluster it’s hard to find evidence of a real crime.
Alternative Visions: China is interfering with its own businesses. It is telling people where they can and can’t invest their money. It is not planning to ‘pursue political and economic reform.’ Instead, gasp!, it has an ‘alternative vision.’ In other words, China is making mistakes. Surely it will suffer from its overbearing central planning. Surely it will lose market share and growth, because of its lack of ‘reform.’ No doubt, it will fall behind as it pursues its ‘alternative vision.’ More broadly, an economy run by communists is bound to be a disaster. After all, what do political hacks, whether they be in Beijing or Washington, know about capital allocation? When were their ‘investments’ ever not failures?
What luck! You’d think US experts would be delighted; they have found an enemy that is even more badly governed than we are. They should welcome China’s many weaknesses and errors. “Never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake,” advised Napoleon. Instead, they rant and rave…and rattle their sabers. The empire has found its next target. "
Excerpt: "This is something to keep in mind as the economy falters this autumn. People in the dreaded private sector will tell you that things are not great in the economy, and it has all the signs of a recession. Inflation is not defeated, despite claims to the contrary, and oil prices are rising just in time for the heating season. The rise in the cost of money is starting to have its effect on the economy. Now China is admitting that it is headed to recession, due to slack demand from the West.
This is happening while the regime prepares to run the corpse of Joe Biden as the man who not only saved the world from Trump, but the man who singlehandedly saved the economy from disaster. The key servants have been out instructing the media on the new narrative about the economy. This means we will be flooded with stories about the economic miracle just as the economy is tipping into recession. Such a disconnect is the sort of thing that causes revolutions.
That is what may be the death of our regime. The people at the top of it live in a world of narratives that are independent of reality. They are so sure they can compel reality to fit their version of reality that they cannot imagine an alternative ending. The Tsar, no doubt, could not imagine an alternative ending to his narrative. The many people who met the national razor never were shocked by the end to their narrative. Our rulers may be in for a surprise ending too."
Policies Of Our Leaders, 'Average' Americans Are In Huge Trouble"
By Michael Snyder
"The middle class in the U.S. has been steadily shrinking for decades, but in recent years our leaders have greatly accelerated that process. In 2020, 2021 and 2022 they absolutely flooded the system with new money, and almost all of that new money went into the pockets of the wealthy. The gap between the wealthy and the rest of us is now larger than ever, and that isn’t a good thing for our society. Even if you are still making as much money as you did a few years ago, you have lost a lot of ground financially, because the cost of living has been rapidly eating away at our standard of living. As I covered the other day, household income in the United States has declined by 9.1 percent since April 2020 after adjusting for inflation and taxes. In other words, the middle class is a whole lot smaller than it was in April 2020, and it continues to get smaller with each passing day.
According to Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi, on average Americans are now spending “$709 more per month on everyday goods and services than they did two years ago”…"Americans are spending $709 more per month on everyday goods and services than they did two years ago, according to Moody’s Analytics. Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi made the statement Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, as part of his analysis of July’s consumer price index report."
Is the rising cost of living causing financial stress for you? If it is, you are definitely not alone. The wealthy are doing just fine for the moment, but inflation has caused a lot of pain for the vast majority of the rest of us.
Just paying for a place to live has become incredibly oppressive. Personally, I was astounded to learn that the average rent in Manhattan has now reached $5,588 per month…"New Yorkers are feeling the squeeze as rents hit a new high. Rent in Manhattan soared to a record-high average of $5,588 in July, up 9% from 2022. It’s hurting tenants struggling to find apartments they can afford. One apartment hunter said she can’t find a studio to suit her work-from-home needs for less than $5,000."
Who can afford that? Only the wealthy. Of course the truth is that rents have been soaring all over the country. It is being reported that the nationwide average rent-to-income ratio has exceeded 30 percent for the past two years. This is the very first time in the entire history of our country that this has ever happened.
With rents being so high, a lot of Americans are being forced out into the streets. According to the Wall Street Journal, the United States “has seen a record increase in homeless people this year”. Please let that statement sink in for a moment. So far in 2023, the number of homeless people in the U.S. is up 11 percent from last year. That is the biggest jump that the government has ever recorded. Not even during the recession of 2008 and 2009 did we see anything like this.
Unfortunately, the outlook for the months ahead is not promising, because it looks like the cost of living is going to continue to rise at a brisk pace. According to CNN, the average price of a gallon of gasoline has nearly reached 4 dollars a gallon…"Pump prices are creeping towards $4 a gallon nationally. The national average for regular gasoline hit $3.85 a gallon on Monday, according to AAA. That’s the highest level since October 19 and comes just weeks ahead of Labor Day weekend when millions of Americans will hit the roads." I remember the days when I could fill up my vehicle for less than 20 dollars. But the other day I spent 70 dollars at the gas station and that didn’t even fill the tank.
And we are being warned that U.S. consumers are going to have a lot less discretionary income in the months ahead as tens of millions are forced to start making payments on student loans again…"For more than three years, federal student loan borrowers have not had to make monthly payments. But that pandemic-era pause is coming to an end this fall, setting up a financial shock for millions of Americans and the big-name stores, such as Target, Nike, Under Armour and Gap, where they shop.
About 44 million borrowers in the U.S. were affected by the payment pause, which initially began in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Biden administration extended the pause for the eighth time in November but will not do so again as part of the bipartisan debt ceiling deal approved by Congress."
More than 60 percent of all Americans are already living paycheck to paycheck, and many are increasingly turning to debt in order to make ends meet. In fact, total credit card debt now exceeds the one trillion dollar mark for the first time ever, and that is not a good sign at all.
Also, an increasing number of Americans are now dipping into their 401(K) plans…"When father-of-two Ivan Marusic lost his job overnight in 2020, he was left panicking about how he would cover his mortgage. It prompted the 35-year-old, from Texas, to do something he never thought he would: withdraw $20,000 from his 401(K). It is a decision he is still paying for now. ‘I was really hesitant to do it because I knew it would set me back financially in the long run. But I didn’t have any other options. I had already maxed out my credit card and I was running out of money,’ Marusic, a tech worker who has since founded the website Game Taco, told Dailymail.com."
We really are witnessing a middle class meltdown. I have been warning about this trend in my books for years, and now the evisceration of the middle class has greatly accelerated. I wish that I could tell you that there is economic hope on the horizon. But I can’t do that, because our leaders continue to make incredibly self-destructive decisions which are going to cause immense economic pain for the entire country."
"Grocery Price Hike Report! It's Gonna Be A Long Winter!"
"We're exposing the truth on the grocery price hikes and how we know it's gonna be a long winter. With the long road ahead, we need to prepare accordingly as many still continue to struggle to put food on the table!"
You know, sometimes you stumble upon a little gem on YouTube you'd completely forgotten about, like this song from 1968, and that made me think, OMG, 55 years ago?! Is that possible? I remember it well, really liked it then, and now it makes me smile and shake my head in wonder. What a long strange trip it's been...lol - CP
"If you live in America, are you seeing rent prices go up or down in your area this year? Despite recent claims that rent price growth is cooling down, new surveys just published by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and Freddie Mac found that the majority of U.S. households, -- or about two-thirds of the entire population, -- reported that they had experienced at least one rent hike in 2023. Meanwhile, one in 10 said that they saw a whopping $400 price increase in the first quarter,
With the cost of housing exploding across the country, more and more people are missing rent payments and facing evictions. Today, eviction fillings are actually 50% higher than in 2019, when there were no pandemic moratoriums in place and the market was still considered “normal”. Official estimates reveal that more than 8 million renters may lose their homes this month, and that may be just the beginning of a trend that will devastate countless American families.
In 2019, the average price for a two-bedroom apartment in the U.S. was just $1,320. Today, families are paying on average $700 more in rent per month for the same two-bedroom unit. That’s a staggering 53% increase in just four years. Just in the past twelve months, rents rose by 26%, and a shortage of affordable homes is squeezing many American families, and putting them an edge closer to facing eviction this year.
A new survey published by the research center just a few weeks back found that 60% of U.S. households experienced at least one rent increase since January, including 17% who experienced two or more rent hikes. The increases ranged between $75 to $100 per week, meaning that for some families monthly rents have become $400 more expensive so far this year, with a ratio of 1 in 10, or about 4.4 million renters reporting that’s their case.
In contrast, a separate survey conducted by Freddie Mac revealed that just 38% of renters saw their wages increase, and 33% say their raise won’t cover their increased rent. The research sought to gauge the impact of rising prices on consumers' housing choices, and it was conducted this year from June 6 to 10 among a representative sample of 2,000 American consumers, aged 18 and older. Mirroring recent turmoil in the housing and rent markets, Alignable’s July Rent Report, released last week, exposed that rent delinquency rates have just experienced the highest surge in five months, jumping six percentage points from March, at 13.17%, or 28% than a year ago levels, when moratoriums were still in place in many areas.
Put another way, 8,070,524 people ages 18 or older in the U.S. aren’t caught up on rent payments and have already received an eviction notice, meaning that they could lose their homes at any minute now. This month, a record number of households can be displaced from their communities because they can no longer keep up with abusive rent hikes. That will have a far-reaching impact on our society as the disparity between the haves and have-nots gets even wider in America. But without a doubt, the biggest consequence of this crisis will be the devastating effect it will have on the finances, mental and physical health, and every other aspect of the lives of millions of Americans who can no longer afford their homes. Behind each one of these numbers and stats, there is a person, a family, a history. And if action isn’t taken to prevent mass evictions, all of these lives may be shattered all around us."
“Massive stars, abrasive winds, mountains of dust, and energetic light sculpt one of the largest and most picturesque regions of star formation in the Local Group of Galaxies. Known as N11, the region is visible on the upper right of many images of its home galaxy, the Milky Way neighbor known as the Large Magellanic Clouds (LMC).
The above image was taken for scientific purposes by the Hubble Space Telescope and reprocessed for artistry by an amateur to win the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures competition. Although the section imaged above is known as NGC 1763, the entire N11 emission nebula is second in LMC size only to 30 Doradus. Studying the stars in N11 has shown that it actually houses three successive generations of star formation. Compact globules of dark dust housing emerging young stars are also visible around the image.”
"Ukraine War, Bid Deal! Wars In Africa, Who Cares?"
"Gerald Celente rants about the rampant hypocrisy of the mainstream media. They pump up the Ukraine war everyday meanwhile there is barely a peep about the atrocities occurring in Africa. The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present facts and truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for what’s next in these increasingly turbulent times."
Trump and Biden in Despair, Earth Wobbles in Orbit"
by Fred Reed
"I have decided to run in the upcoming Presidential elections as dictator. I am aware of the stress this will cause me, the long hours, the sacrifice, but I sense that the country yearns for me in its desperation, its despair for a Leader. In this week alone I have gotten hundreds of emails urging me to take the reins of government (OK, three emails, but I am rounding up.) At whatever cost, I will answer my country’s call.
Some will object to my certain ascension as voters reach out in their anguish. Naysayers will say “nay,” that being how you know they are naysayers. Skeptics will say, “But Fred, you have no qualifications as dictator.” To them I reply, “True, but look at what we’ve got.” This is an insuperable argument.
A considerate dictator informs his dictadees of his plans for them and the country. Herewith a few of the measures I foresee:
On day one I will pardon Assange, replacing him with Anthony Blinken, who will remain in the cell as long as Assange has. Turn about is fair play, my mother told me.
I will remove all restrictions from Cuba and give it most-favored-nation status. If those wretched pseudo-Cubans in Miami protest, I will have them arrested and left on a desert island somewhere. Preferably one with an active volcano. Cuba is no danger to anyone anywhere, Keeping eleven million perfectly good people in misery, people who make great music and good rum, to please a pack of irritating frauds is political sadism. If you have a desert island, let me know.
I will cancel the B-21 intercontinental nuclear bomber. The only use for an intercontinental nuclear bomber is to have an intercontinental nuclear war. I don’t see the advantage in it. Further, for the price of one of the damn things we could buy Germany. Then we’d have really good beer.
I will remove all sanctions on Venezuela. If we want their oil, we can jolly well buy it. America isn’t, or should stop being, in international retarded school-yard bully shaking down the kids for their lunch money. This brilliant move, combined with getting out of Cuba, would give America good relations with Latin America for the first time in history.
I will arrest all politicians who appear on television in front of the American flag. I have nothing against the flag. I just don’t think it should be used as an advertising gimmick by useless pols seeking support for their next felony.
Under my Affordable Sidewalks Act, I will order the widening of sidewalks everywhere so that all Americans will have a place to live. Here in Mexico people live in houses but I suppose sidewalks have more fresh air. In New York I will install raised platforms in the subways so that Americans can sleep out of reach of the rats. Stalls will sell ammunition if there is any left over after Ukraine gets all it wants. This is the least government can do for the citizenry.
Looting being serious during natural disasters, I will remedy this by four words, “Looters will be shot.” It is a known fact that shot looters substantially reduce their looting. I may also start twelve-step programs for survivors. Since our cities now amount to natural disasters, the same formula will apply to urban looters, such as smash-and-grab artists.
In hopes of saving some small portion of national treasure for the benefit of Americans, I will have the management of arms firms wrapped in duct tape and dropped down abandoned oil wells. If this doesn’t work, I may take extreme measures. In the meantime I will ask Kiev for a loan of a hundred billion dollars, pledging California as collateral. American infrastructure increasingly looks like something out of the 1840s. With a hundred billion, I could bring the US to the level of China in 1990.
I will designate the American rail system in its entirety as a national museum, which would require only the placing of signs. This would prevent embarrassment in the eyes of foreigners who might think us actually at such a level.
I will require that all assault rifles be manufactured with irremovable geo-lockslinked to GPS so that they can be fired only within the United States. This would keep the NRA happy, allow Americans to shoot each other as is their Constitutional right, but keep America from arming Mexico’s drug cartels. When American soldiers invaded other countries they would have to use spears, which might reduce enthusiasm for meddling where they have no business, though this is a long shot.
I will give that sweat-shirted comedian who runs Ukraine fifteen minutes to start negotiations or I will coat him in bacon rind and feed him to army ants which I will probably do anyway after the negotiations. He has killed hundreds of thousands of people, mostly his own but some Russians, while running around the world and having dinner with important people. I will task the Smithsonian with finding the requisite ants and refrain from feeding them for a few days before their application.
I will have John Bolton placed for a year and released then, if I remember, in the bottom of a public latrine in a bus station in Uganda. I will do this because it will be deeply satisfying but, to enshroud myself in an aura of rationality and purpose, I will offer it as a measure to prevent war with China – to which end it would in fact militate.
I will have all F-35 fighter planes, the ones that don’t have any parts that work, installed in shopping malls, filled with potting soil, and used as planters. The plants will probably die due to poor drainage or something, but you can’t have everything.
I will put a bounty on congressmen, with no bag limit. I may supply patriots with rental duck guns to further this meritorious measure. No citizen should be deprived of the pleasure of shooting his Congressman simply for lack of suitable armament. With a good catapult, they might make serviceable skeet. The scoundrels do nothing for the country and make too much noise.
I will bring Nancy Pelosi out of retirement and send her to consort with John Bolton. I think solitary confinement is a violation of human rights
I will require that teachers be able to read. This may be thought excessive and unusual, but it is worth a try. For the greater good of the country,I will have teachers colleges filled with linoleum cement with the future miscreants inside. This will raise the national IQ by at least three points.
I will outlaw computer-driven trading in the stock markets, thus preventing parasites from skimming fortunes they have done nothing to earn. Should they object, I will urge them to reflect that in summer the air conditioning at Leavenworth is said to be inadequate.
I now await a vast up welling of support at the polling stations."
"You’ve heard all about how high cholesterol levels are causing ill health. More importantly, you’ve heard about how bad cholesterol is causing ill health. It affects your arteries and blood flow, putting your heart under more pressure to perform properly. Those with high cholesterol levels are more at risk of stroke, heart attacks, and heart disease.
Cholesterol has long been linked to the food we eat. There are certain foods that we’re recommended to stay away from and others that we should get more off to promote good cholesterol levels and help protect the arteries. Did you know that it’s not just food that affects the cholesterol levels? Stress has been linked to high cholesterol. In fact, some studies now show that stress is worse than the food we eat for cholesterol levels and ill health.
The problem is that stress is a silent killer. We don’t realize that our cortisol levels are up and causing these problems until it’s too late in some cases. It’s important to reduce our stress levels to keep our cholesterol levels down. Here’s a look at just how stress causes high cholesterol and what you can do about it.
What Exactly Is Cholesterol? Before you start looking at stress and how it affects to high cholesterol levels, you need to know more about it. What exactly is it and what does it do?
There are two types of cholesterol: good and bad. The bad cholesterol is known as LDL cholesterol, and you shouldn’t have any more than 100mg/dL of this type in your body. Good cholesterol is HDL, and you should have at least 60mg/dL. A good level of total cholesterol, according to physicians, is 200mg/dL and this can be made up of both good and bad. Considering you shouldn’t have more that 100mg/dL of the bad stuff, you want at least 100mg/dL of the good stuff. The more good cholesterol you have, the better it is for you. Good cholesterol can keep the bad stuff at bay and under control.
What exactly is cholesterol? It’s a fatty substance that is only found in animal products. It is naturally produced by your body, but can also be added to food. The body will make more cholesterol due to trans and saturated fats being added through food. Both types of cholesterol will enter the arteries and build up. The good stuff builds up as a lining to the arteries, protecting them from damage. The lining is soft and makes it easier for the blood to flow through the veins.
On the other hand, bad cholesterol blocks the arteries. It creates a friction layer that stops the blood flowing freely. The heart and brain don’t get the blood that they both need and clogs can appear in the arteries. You’re at a higher risk of suffering various health problems, including stroke and heart disease, because of your high bad cholesterol levels.
There are various types of people more at risk for having high cholesterol levels. There are certainly genetic factors involved, but there are also lifestyle factors. One of those is stress levels, especially in those who are overweight, smoke or have other health problems.
Stress and the Unhealthy Lifestyle: One of the reasons found for the stress and high cholesterol link is bad lifestyle habits. Those who are stressed are more likely to follow less healthy habits in other areas of their life. They’re less likely to exercise and more likely to eat bad food. After all, saturated and trans fat foods tend to be the comfort foods – those that people crave to try to boost their endorphin and serotonin levels.
People who are stressed will look for ways to counter their cortisol levels, and that is usually through unhealthy methods. People are more likely to drink or smoke, which puts other strains on their body. The body isn’t able to produce the good cholesterol and is encouraged to create bad cholesterol. This reason is highly common in men. It is men who tend to deal with stress the worst, possibly due to misconceptions that relaxation techniques are for women. They also tend to have higher stressful jobs than women, since many men are in higher positions of power and authority. Men tend to be in more leadership roles, which means more responsibility and decision making. It may not seem fair, but that’s just a common view.
How the Body Reacts to Stress Causes High Cholesterol Levels: Another study found that people who suffer from high levels of stress have higher bad cholesterol due to the high levels of triglycerides. The triglycerides are the components that encourage the boost of bad cholesterol levels, causing major health problems. It doesn’t matter what your diet is like, although the unhealthier diet will put you more at risk.
The study researchers considered the reasons for the higher triglycerides. While the exact reason isn’t known, the theory is that it is due to the stress hormone cortisol. This is common is people who suffer long term stress, and leads to the release of adrenaline in the body.
Adrenaline is the body’s “flight or fight” response and helps to deal with the stress levels. It pushes people into making decisions and keeps them alert and active when they desperately need to be. Many people in trauma incidents report that they don’t know how they kept going. The adrenaline pushed them forward until they were given a chance to relax. That was when their bodies shut down, and they had the chance to allow the trauma to affect them. Adrenaline can certainly have benefits, but it causes the increase in triglycerides. This then triggers the high levels of bad cholesterol, which can later affect the body in other ways.
Stress Can Cause “Stickiness” in the Arteries: Another study has found that the arteries can be “sticky” due to high-stress levels. This may or may not be linked to high cholesterol levels. It could be a problem on its own that makes it look like someone has high cholesterol levels.
Stress makes the muscles spasm. This affects the arteries, which causes problems with the blood flow. The platelets in people with high-stress levels are commonly “sticky.” They cling to the artery walls and create bumps and friction for the blood flow. The blood is more likely to clog, and other health problems arise. The constriction of the arteries certainly doesn’t help things. When the arteries constrict, the area for the blood flow gets smaller, and it causes the blood flow to slow down. Mixed with the stickiness or high cholesterol problems, the blood gets stuck and clogs. It’s harder for the heart and brain to get the blood that they both need.
Stress causes many other health problems and affects the body in more ways that we currently know or understand. It is possible that stress isn’t just a factor for high cholesterol but makes high cholesterol worse for the health.
Reducing Stress to Prolong Life: Many scientists now recommend not focusing on reducing cholesterol as much as reducing stress. Cholesterol gained a bad rep for a long time, including good cholesterol. It’s taken time for the medical world to realize that not all cholesterol is bad and there are other factors that cause many of the same risks. One of those is the high-stress levels. It’s important to keep them to a minimum so the whole body can work effectively and we can prolong out lives.
The tricky thing is finding a way to reduce stress levels. Understandably reducing stress isn’t always easy and people can end up even more stressed because they’re trying to reduce it. Think about how you feel when you’re struggling to sleep because of stress. You get more worked up, which releases more cortisol and more adrenaline into the body. It’s harder to get to sleep, and this cycle continues until you find a way actually to reduce the stress.
Meditation and exercise are often considered the best ways to reduce stress. Yoga is a popular option since it combines the two together in many ways. You get to become one with yourself, focus on your breathing, and tone your body at the same time.
Both meditation and exercise help to release more happy hormones into your body. The right chemicals help to reduce the levels of cortisol in your body. You’ll have less adrenaline keeping you awake and fewer triglycerides causing your bad cholesterol production to increase.
It will be tempting to reach for a glass or two (or even a bottle) of wine to deal with stress. Smoking is tempting, along with binge watching a TV series while you struggle to sleep. You want to look for healthier ways to handle your stress. The negative ways will just cause more problems for your health.
Long Term vs. Short Term Stress and Cholesterol: If you have the odd day where you feel like you’re at the end of your tether, don’t worry about it too much. It’s not the short-term stress that causes the increase in cholesterol levels. The studies show that those who suffer long term stress are the ones who are most likely to see all the negative side effects.
Sure, stress isn’t good for you, but it is also a normal part of living. There are times that adrenaline and cortisol are needed. They can keep you going when you run out of energy or when going through trauma.
Those who suffer long term stress will have prolonged cortisol and adrenaline levels. Those hormones will be much higher than they need to be and in the body for much longer. They cause a range of health problems when around for long periods of time, including high blood pressure, insomnia, and even Type II diabetes. It shouldn’t be surprising that high cholesterol levels are also a problem.
Healthy eating is an important lifestyle choice. Not only will it help to reduce the foods that cause cholesterol production but it can also reduce the cortisol release. Healthy foods protect the body, supply energy, and help to boost the production of happy hormones, which help to reduce the stress hormones.
When you suffer from long term stress, you will want to look for ways to eliminate the reason for stress as much as possible. I know this isn’t always going to be easy. You may enjoy your career, but there will be times that you struggle to cope with all the demand your job throws at you. It’s not like you can just pick and choose. However, if there is a way that you can reduce the stuff you do that causes stress, such as delegation, then you want to do it where you can.
Long term high-stress levels may not cause immediate problems. There are links to issues years down the line because of the stress levels that you have felt at some point in your life. This issue is linked more with long term stress, but some bouts of short-term stress can also be a problem.
Stress Isn’t the Only Culprit: It is important to note that stress isn’t the only reason we suffer from high cholesterol levels. While it’s a silent killer and common, there are many other reasons your cholesterol levels could be high. Diet is certainly a factor, but so are genetics and other lifestyle choices that you make. The place you work or the chemicals that you inhale from where you live can also cause cholesterol levels to increase.
This is something that scientists are still trying to understand. We have come a long way since believing that all cholesterol was bad. Now we know that some cholesterol is good, and we want it to our bodies, but we need to make sure that it is good. While stress isn’t the only culprit, it is one of the main reasons for high cholesterol levels and other health problems. It’s best to keep the stress levels at bay as much as possible.”
“Everyone knows they need to manage their stress. When things get difficult at work, school, or in your personal life, you can use as many tips, tricks, and techniques as you can get to calm your nerves. So here’s a science-backed one: make a playlist of the 10 songs found to be the most relaxing on earth. Sound therapies have long been popular as a way of relaxing and restoring one’s health. For centuries, indigenous cultures have used music to enhance well-being and improve health conditions.
Now, neuroscientists out of the UK have specified which tunes give you the most bang for your musical buck. The study was conducted on participants who attempted to solve difficult puzzles as quickly as possible while connected to sensors. The puzzles induced a certain level of stress, and participants listened to different songs while researchers measured brain activity as well as physiological states that included heart rate, blood pressure, and rate of breathing.
According to Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson of Mindlab International, which conducted the research, the top song produced a greater state of relaxation than any other music tested to date. In fact, listening to that one song- “Weightless”- resulted in a striking 65 percent reduction in participants’ overall anxiety, and a 35 percent reduction in their usual physiological resting rates. That is remarkable.
Equally remarkable is the fact the song was actually constructed to do so. The group that created “Weightless”, Marconi Union, did so in collaboration with sound therapists. Its carefully arranged harmonies, rhythms, and bass lines help slow a listener’s heart rate, reduce blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
When it comes to lowering anxiety, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Stress either exacerbates or increases the risk of health issues like heart disease, obesity, depression, gastrointestinal problems, asthma, and more. More troubling still, a recent paper out of Harvard and Stanford found health issues from job stress alone cause more deaths than diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or influenza.
In this age of constant bombardment, the science is clear: if you want your mind and body to last, you’ve got to prioritize giving them a rest. Music is an easy way to take some of the pressure off of all the pings, dings, apps, tags, texts, emails, appointments, meetings, and deadlines that can easily spike your stress level and leave you feeling drained and anxious.
Of the top track, Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson said, “‘Weightless’ was so effective, many women became drowsy and I would advise against driving while listening to the song because it could be dangerous.” So don’t drive while listening to these, but do take advantage of them:
“There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear.”
- Ben Johnson
“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid; courage means you don’t let fear stop you. Everything you want is on the other side of fear. Don’t ever hesitate to give yourself a chance to be everything you are capable of being. Although fear can feel overwhelming, and defeats more people than any other force in the world, it’s not as powerful as it seems. Fear is only as deep as your mind allows. You are still in control. The key is to acknowledge your fear and directly address it. You must step right up and confront it face to face. This tactic robs fear of its power, instead of fear robbing YOU of…
1. Your true path and purpose. Fear of being different… Don’t be fooled by what others say, especially when they try to tell you what is right for you. Listen and then draw your own conclusions. What is your intuition telling you? There is not a clear path that everyone should follow. Your greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding in life at all the wrong things. Choose a path that fits YOU. Those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it. Challenge yourself to ask with each and every step, and each focus point that consumes your energy: “Does this thing I’m doing right now truly serve me and those I care about in the next few minutes, few months, and few years?” Whatever you settle on, just make sure you don’t gain the whole world by losing your soul and purpose in the process.
2. Self-respect. Fear of not being good enough… Don’t be too hard on yourself. There are plenty of people willing to do that for you. Do your best and surrender the rest. Tell yourself, “I am doing the best I can with what I have in this moment. That is all I can ever expect of anyone, including me.” Love yourself and be proud of everything you do, even your mistakes, because your mistakes mean you’re trying. If you feel like others are not treating you with love and respect, check your price tag. Perhaps you subconsciously marked yourself down. Because it’s YOU who tells others what you’re worth by showing them what you are willing to accept for your time and attention. So get off the clearance rack. If you don’t value and respect yourself, wholeheartedly, no one else will either.
3. Your ability to make concrete decisions. Fear of commitment… You cannot live your life at the mercy of chance. You cannot stumble along with a map marked only with the places you fear, or the places you know you don’t want to revisit. You cannot remain trapped, endlessly, in a state where you are unable to ask for directions, even though you’re terribly lost, because you don’t know your destination. You have to commit to goals that speak to you. You have to stand up, look at yourself in the mirror, and say, “It isn’t good enough for me to know only what I DON’T want in life. I need to decide what I DO want.”
4. Priceless opportunities and life experiences. Fear of change and discomfort… As Thich Nhat Hanh so perfectly said, “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” In many cases you stay stuck in your old routines for no other reason than that they are familiar to you. In other words, you’re afraid of change and the unknown. You continually put your dreams and goals off until tomorrow, and you pass on great opportunities simply because they have the potential to lead you out of your comfort zone.
You start using excuses to justify your lack of backbone: “Someday when I have more money,” or “when I’m older,” or the over-abused “I’ll get to it as soon as I have more time.” This is a vicious cycle that leads to a deeply unsatisfying life – a way of thinking that eventually sends you to your grave with immense regret. Regret that you didn’t follow your heart. Regret that you always put everyone else’s needs before your own. Regret that you didn’t do what you could have done when you had the chance.
5. General happiness and peace of mind. Fear of facing inner truths… If you keep looking for happiness outside yourself, you will never find it. Happiness is found from within. What you seek is not somewhere else at some other time; what you seek is here and now, within you. The more you look for it outside yourself, the more it hides from you. Relax, remember the source of your deepest desires, and allow yourself to know their fulfillment. A choice, not circumstances, determines happiness. Each morning when you open your eyes, say to yourself: “I, not external people or events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. It’s up to me. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow hasn’t come yet. I only have today and I’m going to be happy in it.”
6. Your willingness to love, truly and purely. Fear of not being loved in return… Although it is nice when gestures of love are returned, true love is one-way traffic. It’s a pure flow of giving and expecting nothing in return. Anything else is a contract. Notice how whenever you allow love to flow you are always clear, calm and strong. It is only when the thought arises, “What have they given me in return?” that there is confusion and resentment. Ego transacts, love transforms. Life is too short for all these meticulous contracts and transactions.
Look out for yourself by focusing your love in a direction that feels right to you, but once you decide to love, remain clear, remain bright, and remain strong. Love without expectation. Don’t let fear get in your way. When the love you give is true, the people worthy of your love will gradually reveal themselves over time.
7. The right company. Fear of being alone… Sadly, no matter how much love you give, some relationships simply aren’t meant to be. You can try your hardest, you can do everything and say everything, but sometimes people just aren’t worth stressing over anymore, and they aren’t worth worrying about. It’s important to know when to distance yourself from someone who only hurts you and brings you down. When you give your love to someone, truly and purely without expectation, and it’s never good enough for them, there’s a good chance you’re giving your love to the wrong person.
The bottom line is that long-term relationships should help you, not hurt you. Spend time with nice people who are smart, driven and like-minded. And remember, good relationships are a sacred bond – a circle of trust. Both parties must be 100% on board. If and when the time comes to let a relationship go, don’t be hostile. Simply thank the relationships that don’t work out for you, because they just made room for the ones that will.
Next steps… Your biggest fears are completely dependent on you for their survival. Every new day is another chance to change your life, and it’s way too short to let fear interfere. Today, focus your conscious mind on things you desire, not things you fear. Doing so can bring your dreams to life.
Your turn… What has fear stolen from you? What has it stopped you from doing, being, or achieving? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts with the community.”
