Do you know people who get super stressed over stupid stuff? Recently I was standing at a meat counter with three other people early in the morning. I was waiting my turn when I hear the lady standing next to me grumbling. With a sarcastic, loud voice she said, “Can you believe the guy is back there cutting up chickens?” I looked at her, looked at the butcher cutting up chickens, and wanted to say, “Lady, what else would he be doing?” I began to wonder what the rest of this lady’s day was going to be like.
We had only been standing there twenty seconds at the most. I sure wouldn’t want to see her if she had to stand very long at the checkout lane, or worse, if she was in heavy traffic. Little did she know her anger and stress in those few minutes raised her blood pressure, produced more plaque in her blood vessels and gave those blood vessels permission to constrict. Dr. Michael Miller, author of “Heal Your Heart,” says, “The single most overlooked reason for high blood pressure is stress.” He also went on to say that the latest research indicates that an inability to deal effectively with stress is a direct contributor to heart disease.
So today when you’re out and about and have to wait for any length of time anywhere, take a deep breath, give thanks for the day, and give a super smile to anyone you make eye contact with. Oh yes, one more thing, remember not to sweat the small stuff or you might just have a cow!