• Psychopaths: Soothe the Stress

• Soulprints: Your Endless Christmas

• Trailmix: Christmas Apple Cookies from JanMaree

• Stocking Stuffer Idea!

Psycho-Paths: Soothe the Stress

Gift buying, traveling to the relatives, finding the right food, work deadlines coming, kids out of school—do you have a stress headache yet? The holidays can do that too us when the calendar is short and the list is long. We need ways to soothe the chronic stress, when the pressure keeps coming day after day. It’s the “One-more-Feliz-Navidad-and-I’m-done” syndrome!

What does this mean for our health?

When stressed the body floods with adrenaline, making the heart pump faster, lungs work harder, muscles tense to deal with danger, digestion slows, and sweat glands activate. This is exactly what we need to happen when there is one sudden stress, like a loud noise waking us up in the night. It gets us ready for action. But all these stress hormones bring troubles if the stress continues on and on. The body enters a state called allostatic load, where the hormones keep the body aroused, like an engine running a full throttle. Long term physical effects can include weight gain, heart problems, gastrointestinal distress, elevated blood pressure, sexual dysfunction, or persistent headaches. The weakened immune system makes us more susceptible to infections.

What about our mental state? This is also affected by the failure of the body to relax. One possible reaction is sustained anxiety. Concentration and memory acuity declines. Anger emerges as we carry a sense of unspecified threat. It doesn’t take long for those around us to notice that we are on edge, snappy, easily frustrated, and generally unhappy. We get messages from our exasperated loved ones, “Calm down,” “Take a chill pill,” or “Have some eggnog!”

Another response when our hormones are out of balance from stress may be a prevailing sadness that robs us of happiness. We may feel lethargic, hopeless, fatigued, on the verge of tears, or wanting to stay in bed for hours. This is a depressed mood that feels like a black cloud is hovering overhead. Our loved ones lose patience and tell us to “Look on the bright side,” or “Let’s put on ‘Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.’”

Here are the some helps to handle the Red-and-Green stress in your life.

• Accept your limitations- It’s okay to admit you are human. You are not God, all-powerful or all-knowing. Most of the future is out of your control. What you are worried might happen probably won’t. In the same way, the past is out of your control. You cannot change it. Stop the reproach and regret for what is past. Choose to focus on the Now and what you can control.

• Do some exercise - Aerobic exercise releases multiple feel-good chemicals in your brain. Light to moderate walking, yoga, swimming, or biking are a few of the good things to do. A total of 150 minutes per week is a great goal but it’s even more important to be consistent.

• Socialize with trusted people- We are social creatures. Isolation is deadly. Choose to connect with other folks to laugh, love or help someone. Even just seeing a smile triggers the good hormones in your own brain. Healthy people are connected people.

• Practice Meditation- Spend a few minutes every day with quiet surroundings, measured breathing and concentrated attention toward the inner person or spiritual insights. Your body will reduce the elevated hormones that hurt our cells. Even just five minutes of slow breathing can calm emotions which have been stirred up in a crisis. These physical actions are vitally important to convince your body the situation is safe and the hormones can return to normal.

Find the full article and podcast at https://www.buzzsprout.com/907723/6361672

Soulprints: Your Endless Christmas

By December 26, the Christmas wrapping paper is thrown away and the last tidbit of fruitcake eaten. But what if our Christmas celebration could go on-and-on to build our well-being? When we explore beyond the tinsel and tidbits, we can discover God at work far beyond our imagination or the simple fact of a Jewish baby born in 4 BCE. Our lives and our world can be transformed by an endless Christmas!

The traditional Christian theology holds, in simplistic terms, that Jesus was a unique hybrid being, both human and divine. The birth legends of Luke describe Mary conceiving without a man by the power of God. This is called “incarnation,” a unique moment in which God took on flesh. Recently, progressive theologians have expanded the truth of incarnation by recognizing that God’s work in the universe goes far beyond one baby in 4BCE. Such a larger work has profound meaning for how we live today.

The first incarnation was the creation and sustaining of the material universe. Progressive theology teaches that God pervades all this complex and immense universe. This first incarnation 13 billion years ago means that everywhere you are, God is there, working in infinite creative energy. The second incarnation can be found in the emergence of consciousness. The second incarnation enables creatures with consciousness to connect with God, others, and transcendent meaning. Because of this incarnational work, you are learning something at this moment, planning for gifts to be given, or hungering for some peppermint fudge.

The third incarnation is focused on that baby in Bethlehem. The life of Jesus brought a new dimension of incarnation, uniting his collaborative volition completely with the work of God. This Christmas incarnation unlocks dimensions of divine life for us that had never been possible. Through fidelity to God, we can be transformed. We can thrive in ways that build personal and community well-being by following the lifestyle of Jesus.

There’s more to this incarnation movement, a fourth and fifth incarnation, that helps us on the journey to well-being! Finish the story at:

Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/R3DPdaUIqi0

Listen on your podcast provider or at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/907723/14072141

Read on Medium: https://medium.com/@larry-payne

Trail Mix:

Cookies from JanMaree’s Kitchen

CHRISTMAS APPLE COOKIES

½ c. shortening 1⅓ c. brown sugar, firmly packed

½ t. salt ½ t. ground cloves, scant

1 t. cinnamon ½ t. nutmeg

1 t. soda 1 egg, unbeaten

1 c. unpared apples, finely chopped 2½ c. flour, sifted

1 c. raisins (optional) ¼ c. apple juice

1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Combine shortening, sugar, salt, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and egg. Mix well. Sift flour with soda. Add half of flour mixture to shortening mixture and blend. Stir in raisins, apples, nuts and apple juice or milk. Add remaining flour and mix well. Drop by teaspoonsful on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 11-14 minutes. Remove cookies and glaze. Makes 3½ dozen cookies.

 Vanilla Glaze 

1½ c. sifted powdered sugar 1 T. soft margarine

2 ½ T. scalded milk ¼ t. vanilla

⅛ t. salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat until creamy.

*Store the cookies between layers of parchment paper as these cookies have a moist, cake consistency and will stick together otherwise.

 Enjoy with family and friends around the table at Christmas!

Need a stocking stuffer?

TRACKS FOR THE JOURNEY 2022 is a great idea! All the podcasts of 2022 are collected in one volume, plus bonus material. Topics for inspiration and insight include: Pursuing Happiness, Sex is Okay with God, Gals-Guys-and God, It’s Tough to Trust, and more. Choose paperback or Kindle editions. Merry Christmas!

I welcome your questions, comments, ideas, and affirmations.

Email me directly at: [email protected]

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