Glenn Murphy returns to the podcast in the nick of time, to help understand, manage, and overcome stress reactions and symptoms in this time of fear, lockdown, and uncertainty.
He shares an evolutionary perspective on why this pandemic produces stress responses unlike other typical stressors, and offers exercises, solutions, and mindsets to help us get through and build our resilience along the way.
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Today is January 2, 2020. If you’re a resolutions kind of person, today is the second day to do the thing you’ve decided to do.
Are you still motivated? I certainly hope so!
What about tomorrow? Will you be motivated then as well? Fingers crossed…
And the day after tomorrow?
And the day after that?
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When I was in 11th grade, I came in 3rd in the New Jersey Science League Chemistry II competition.
Which was odd.
I wasn’t one of the best chemistry students in the state, by far. I wasn’t even close to being the best chemistry student in my high school. Hell, I wasn’t close to be the best chemistry student in my chemistry class.
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There’s a logic puzzle, well-known to those of us who never dated in high school, about an island that’s inhabited by two tribes – the Liars and the Truthtellers. It’s impossible to tell them apart by looks.
You’re on this island, at a fork in the road, lost and confused, and you want to know which road takes you to the village. Especially because the other road leads to a dangerous dragon.
You meet a native of the island, and get to ask one question. What question can you ask to find your way to the village?
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After the third consecutive night of no sleep, I was starting to lose it.
Our newborn daughter, who had looked so sweet and angelic in the moments right after her birth (9 on the APGAR – you go, girl!) had morphed into a demonic nighttime presence.
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If you think that you need to love – or even like – healthy food and exercise in order to do it, then you’re stuck.
I hear this all the time: “I tried kale, but I didn’t like it.”
And this: “I started jogging, but just didn’t get into it.”
And this: “I downloaded a meditation app, but I didn’t enjoy it.”
When we give up on things because they don’t trigger LAFS, we are by definition eliminating the possibility of adding the healthiest things to our lives. That’s because the healthy stuff, in our consumer culture, is surrounded by foods and activities designed to be addictive.
Today’s Friday Fertilizer from Plant Yourself explores the Love at First Sight Trap, and shows you a way out.
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When we adopt a new habit, we often experience a honeymoon period. Partly it’s our enthusiasm and motivation at the first flush of hope and desire, and partly we’ve chosen this time to start because it’s particularly convenient or easy.
But the universe will test our resolve not too long after that. It can feel like slamming into a brick wall at the end of a runway.
What we do next determines our fate.
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The public health crisis was going to be unprecedented, and catastrophic.
As the Americans clumsily extricated themselves from the Vietnam War in the early 1970s, tens of thousands of US troops would be returning home. And by some estimates, 90% of them had become addicted to heroin during their tour of duty.
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Don Larson died this month, at the age of 90.
He played baseball professionally from 1953 to 1967, and had a less than stellar career. As a pitcher, his lifetime record was 81 wins and 91 losses. He played five of those years with the powerhouse New York Yankees during their dynastic heyday in the 1950s; his record for lesser teams was a dismal 36 wins and 67 losses.
And yet he’s one of my favorite players of all time.
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When I was in 11th grade, I came in 3rd in the New Jersey Science League Chemistry II competition.
Which was odd.
I wasn’t one of the best chemistry students in the state, by far. I wasn’t even close to being the best chemistry student in my high school. Hell, I wasn’t close to be the best chemistry student in my chemistry class.
Read More
