[Blindtlk] 10 natural ways to relieve stress

Tue Mar 5 02:24:23 UTC 2013

    As a professional in the field of health & wellness, I would like to add 
my support to Mike's comments about blindness being a major stressor. One of 
my fields of expertise is in stress management, teaching seminars to 
employees of large corporations. The truth about stress is that it is the 
result of our interaction with the environment; it cannot be eliminated, 
only managed. Stress is fundamentally the reaction to our perception of a 
circumstance. It is neither positive or negative except that thinking makes 
it so. Two people can experience the exact same event and have very 
different reactions.
    blindness, in and of itself, is not a distressor - the term for negative 
stress. In fact, for me, it is generally a neutral stressor.There are times, 
though, that it is a positive stressor, motivating me to work harder to 
accomplish a thing just because some believe I cannot do so as a blind 
person. Then there are those times blindness is a distressor, such as when I 
feel frustrated with a website that is inaccessible.
    I agree with Mike's comment about lessening the distressful 
circumstances in our lives by obtaining good blindness skills training and 
making use of effective blindness tools. The positive philosophy embodied in 
the NFB and so elucidated in the speech Mike mentioned is well worth the 
read on a regular basis. It is what I refer to as "organic" writing. The 
more you read it the more it grows in your consciousness!

Fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala, M.S.
Kairos Health & Wellness Center
www.KairosHWC.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 6:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] 10 natural ways to relieve stress

> I've been staying out of this thread, believing that it is basically
> counterproductive. However, the mistake I surmise Peter is making is to
> single out blindness as a particular egregious stress-provoker. It is not.
>
> Of course, some folks may find it so; the point is that some of us do not
> find it so, especially if we've had good blindness training and have
> opportunities to put our skills and attitudes to work.
>
> We might all find it profitable to reread Dr. jernigan's speech: 
> "Blindness:
> Handicap or Characteristic".
>
> Cheers!
>
> Mike Freeman
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chris
> Nusbaum
> Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 3:04 PM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] 10 natural ways to relieve stress
>
> Julie,
>
> Very well said! Thank you for these wonderful thoughts!
>
> Chris
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Sun, 03 Mar 2013 08:26:34 -0600
> Subject: [Blindtlk] 10 natural ways to relieve stress
>
> Peter,
>
> I never said I was speaking for all blind people everywhere.  I
> said
> that stress, unhappiness and unemployment were not *my* current
> experience.  I understand that lots of blind people don't have
> jobs and
> are generally unhappy with their life situation.  And I have no
> problem
> with the words happy or unhappy.
>
> I have been there too.  I had no job for a long time.  I've been
> homeless, if only for a few days.  I've eaten my fair share of
> Ramen
> noodles.   I've wondered how I was going to scrape together
> enough money
> to pay the bills, month after month after month.  However I
> always kept
> the mindset that the situation at hand was temporary.  You can be
> in an
> awful situation and still have hope.  Sometimes that's all there
> is.
>
> I'm not quite as old as you think.  I'll be 40 this year.  I
> don't know
> that families were all that much different when I was a kid.  I
> grew up
> in a mostly African American, poor area though.  BTW I am white.
> I
> guess maybe growing up being the different kid allowed me to get
> real
> comfortable with being different and being okay with that.  Who
> knows?
>
> Now, I work with young people with their first contact with the
> criminal
> justice system.  I see all sorts of different family groupings.
> Some of
> them work and are healthy and some of them are not a good place
> for
> kids.  I don't see a strong correlation between a man and woman
> who have
> been married for a long time with only their own kids in the home
> and
> stability.  I have a single Dad raising five kids that I think
> should
> get parent of the year.  I have another youth who lives with her
> Aunt
> and Uncle and it is one of the most positive respectful families.
> Some
> of the traditional families are good too.  I'm just saying that
> family
> comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes and I think it always has.
>
> Perhaps what I am saying is that yes, bad stuff happens in the
> world.
> We all know that and can agree that blind people get more than
> our fair
> share of hardships.   I feel like I have a choice though.  I can
> choose
> to feel stressed and hopeless because the odds are that I won't
> have a
> job or I can choose to put all my effort in to finding a job or
> starting
> my own business.  No, it isn't easy and it won't happen
> overnight, but
> if I believe that it can happen for me, I have just dramatically
> increased the odds that it will.  "Whether you believe you can or
> you
> can't, either way you're right."A quote from the founder of the
> Ford
> motor company.
>
> Blindness can be hard, very hard at times.  I choose to look at
> it as an
> opportunity though.  I feel like I have made many of the life
> choices I
> have because of my blindness, not despite it.  I have a strong
> need to
> challenge myself to learn new things and have new experiences.
> Blindness has made that easy.
>
> This summer I am going survival camping.  I am going to learn
> stuff like
> how to make a fire with no matches, how to make rope, how to find
> drinking water and  how to make a shelter in the woods.   I am so
> excited for this opportunity!  It will be a challenge and I'll
> have to
> figure out many adaptations because of my blindness.   It's like
> a
> puzzle for me.  I love to figure out how I can accomplish the
> task.
> Occasionally I come across something that I can't do, but more
> often I
> surprise myself.  It also helps a lot to have wonderful email
> lists and
> other blind people willing to talk to me about similar things
> they have
> done.  I can build on what has already been discovered without
> reinventing the wheel.  *smile*
>
> What are your goals? Your dreams?  If you knew you couldn't fail
> what
> would you do?  Let us help you figure out how to get there.
>
> Julie
>
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