The Duke University Medical Center has published a report confirming that stress management appears to reduce the long-term chances of heart patients having another "cardiac event" and also provides an immediate and significant cost savings.
The team found a financial benefit of stress management strategies within the first year of the study. Average costs for patients who utilized stress management were $1,228 per patient during the first year, as compared to $2,352 per patient for those who exercised and $4,523 per patient for those who received usual care.
The medical center defines a cardiac event as "bypass surgery, angioplasty, heart attack or death."
My grandfather died of a heart attack when he was pretty young. I can just imagine the people at his funeral saying, "That was one heck of a cardiac event."
The results of this heady scientific research project seem pretty obvious to me, but I guess that wasn’t the case for the National Institutes of Health, who issued three grants for the study. I’m also not sure that we need to provide massive stress management programs to teach people something that once was second nature to us. I don’t see too many children dropping dead from "cardiac events," do you?
At the risk of sounding overly simplistic, here are 8 simple and free ways to help prevent "cardiac events":
• Laugh. The average preschooler laughs 450 times per day. The average adult laughs just 15 times per day. Quit taking yourself too seriously.
• Take A Walk. Exercise is important, but it’s not a choice between daily sweatfests at the gym or nothing. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park farther away at the supermarket. Lose the riding lawnmower. (Unless you’re in charge of keeping the local football field in tip-top shape.)
• Take A Bubble Bath. When was the last time you did that?
• Get 8 Hours of Sleep. Or at least seven.
• Take Frequent Naps. You may or may not want to pull a George Costanza and sleep under your desk (if you do, pack an alarm clock), but Saturday afternoon naps are going out of fashion. Check the TV for golf – you’ll be out like a light.
• Use Babysitters. You deserve a night to yourself.
• Be Off When You’re Off. When you’re at work, work hard. But when your off work, let it go. Don’t think about it. Learn to shut that part of your mind off for a day or two and be amazed at how productive you become.
• Laugh. I know, I know, I mentioned this one already. But that preschooler is kicking your butt – you’ve got 434 more laughs to go. Here’s some help.
One of my favorite things to do in the world is to go on a walk with my husband. That’s actually one of the reasons we fell in love with Madison. It has some very beautiful lakes surrounded by trails for walking. The other day, as we walked in the humid, sticky weather, I was blessed with a “swingset moment.” The childhood memory whisked back before I even saw what was happening. I heard the high pitched screeches of excitement from three children, two of which were wearing their everyday clothes soaking wet, weighing them down like heavy blankets. The third child was a toddler who very proudly pranced around the yard, wearing only his diaper. 
Oh, the summertime joys of the sprinkler. The pure joy and giddiness you feel when the water chases you across the yard. The thrill of that ice cold water. The memories flooded me – leaning over the streaming water, the sudden urge to scream as the water gets you, the feel of the cold soggy grass under your toes. These kids were living the life I long to live – not one with drenched clothes and sopping wet hair, one with the freedom to laugh and scream from the amount of fun you are having. They were truly appreciating the simple joys in life (water and a hose).
1. Add some fun background music. Pick some that helps you “Escape.”
2. Pick some dandelions or wildflowers for your centerpiece.
3. Use the fun china (could be fancy…or paper…whichever you fancy)
4. Share a childlike happening from your day with those you are dining with. (If nothing childlike happened, then share a childhood memory about summer.)
5. Put a bright colored paper umbrella in your drink.
6. Add some Hershey’s chocolate syrup to your milk.
7. Eat dessert first.
8. Make a ketchup smiley face on your burger. (Thanks for the idea Caela!) 
When I was little nothing thrilled me more at a restaurant than to get one of those cute bright colored paper umbrellas in my drink. Pure joy! There was one place in particular we would go, as a big treat, in Joliet, IL, Merichkas, where my parents allowed us to order kitty cocktails. And what a treat this was! My parents loved the food there…I, well…I was satisfied with the “funness” added to my drink. I’m not even sure I really liked the cherry-flavored 7-up, or whatever kitty cocktails are even made of. So, you can imagine my childlike spirit leapt for joy when I read the following blog post:
As things are, there is little to smile about these days. So, I have started my own campaign to make people smile. I distribute those wee, paper umbrellas. I bought a gross of them & started at home by putting one in my husband’s evening wine. He arched an eyebrow & flicked it out, but I could tell he was secretly thrilled. Encouraged by this I put one in my daughter’s water, & she was delighted.
Later I stabbed several into her dinner.
“Are we expecting rain in the kitchen?” she quipped.
“I’m just spreading a little joy, baby,” I said.
“Well do it someplace else, please,” she responded.
“GOOD IDEA!!!” I enthused. My crusade had begun…(read the rest..)
One of the 78 million baby boomers, Jan, shared this story on a fun blog called Aging Hipsters, The Baby Boomer Generation. Ok, now why didn’t I think of this? I love the concept. This is an example of a full-grown adult, defying the laws of man and “society” and refusing to let adulthood dictate the level of her happiness. Jan is truly Escaping Adulthood.
Jan’s story goes on and she shares about some of the positive and negative reactions she has received from her mission. Not only does this story make me want to jump on Oriental Trading’s site and buy a big box of paper umbrellas it inspires me TODAY to look around and to find a way to escape this adultitis that plagues me often. Thanks Jan!
Today I went to a National Speaker’s Association meeting near Milwaukee. I got to meet and talk to the current President, Scott Friedman. Funny guy and great motivator. He totally gets the "Escape Adulthood" thing and used the term "Adultitis" several times after I shared the concept with the group. We traded books, which was also very cool. He spoke about adding humor to your presentations, but a couple things I took away are applicable to everyone:
• Humor is pain, embarrassment, or stress distanced by time.
• Comfort never produced greatness.
• Don’t make a living, design a life.
The whole day reminded me again how important it is to have a childlike curiosity and be a life-long learner. There are so many opportunities out there to improve yourself and your life, you just have to open yourself up to them. The people who understand that there is something new to be learned from every single person and every single opportunity that life brings your way are the ones who stay young. And become successful.
Another speaker, Dan Burrus, shared another profound point over lunch. He said that everyone is good at a number of things. But he believes that we can only be really great at one thing. Too often, we stray from our "vision path" – we’re we want to be – because we get distracted doing the things we’re good at rather than focusing on the thing we’re great at.
Food for thought.
One of the more striking revelations I had also occurred during lunch, when a few of us got into a discussion about Napoleon Dynamite. It got brought up by a woman at the table after I mentioned that Kim & Jason started when I drew some little cute little pictures for Kim. Recalling how Napoleon drew a picture for a girl he wanted to take to a dance, the woman at the table said, "Oh my gosh, you’re just like Napoleon!"
I laughed as I remembered him showing the girl a drawing he had done, accompanied by the line, "It took me like three hours to do the shading on your upper lip. I think it’s the best drawing I’ve ever done."
And in the drawing, it looked like the girl had a flippin’ mustache.
I laughed at the comparison until I remembered his next line: "There’s more where that came from if you go to the dance with me." Considering what has happened since I first drew those funny little pictures for Kim almost ten years ago, I could have easily said something like that to her.
And it would have been true.
You may wonder what if feels like to have such an association drawn between yourself and one of the most infamous nerds of all time…
"It’s the worst day of my life; what do you think?"
As much as I love that movie, Field of Dreams, I am not going to encourage you to build a baseball field in your backyard in hopes of some mysterious visitors. What I have been thinking about is the importance of building one’s family. Not only is it important for our own well-being and emotional health, it is important for our society and in the communities in which we live.
I have to admit, I am often frustrated by the “break-down” of the family in today’s households. It seems like people don’t make the time to have dinner together, communicate without having the TV on in the background, or even play a board game together (no, not a video game). However, this frustration was put to a screeching halt today after I read an article by Tom Kenworthy, USA TODAY, about Brennan Hawkins who disappeared for 4 days in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah. After he was found, Tom interviewed some of the people who had come out to help search for Brennan. Tom shared:
The happy ending was also a tribute to the thousands of people from Utah and beyond who dropped their daily routines and traveled to the Uinta Mountains to join the search. One family friend came from Hawaii to help.
The outpouring of support was evident shortly after dawn Tuesday. A stream of vehicles, many hauling horse trailers or carrying all-terrain four-wheelers, rattled down the gravel road along the East Fork of the Bear River toward the Scout camp. ‘I got kids,’ said Curtis Jones, 39, of Harriman, Utah, as if his two-hour drive towing a horse trailer to assist in the search needed no further explanation. ‘If it was my kid, I’d want everybody I could get.’
‘It says a lot about the family, it says a lot about the people of Utah,’ said Edmunds, who directed the search along the river valley and high ridges carpeted with aspen and pine. ‘It’s a family-oriented community in Utah, and people want to come out in droves to help.’
Among the volunteers was Kevin Bardsley, father of the 11-year-old boy who vanished last August while camping at a nearby lake. ‘When we came off this mountain in the winter,’ Bardsley said, ‘my friends and I decided right then: If anyone came missing, we’d be there immediately.’
What a breath of fresh air. It gives me hope to hear about this kind of support. These thousands of people who traveled to help strangers, did so because of the importance of their own families. Building a strong family unit helps to build strong individuals who help others in times of need. So, even though it may seem crazy to turn away a promotion or hefty overtime pay, it is even more crazy to turn away from the strongest support system and source of love- the family.
Got a nice letter from Lynn Johnston the other day. You may not know her by name (cartoonists have a way of remaining anonymous – how many of you know what Bill Watterson looks like?), but I’m sure you’ve seen her strip, For Better or For Worse. She had some nice things to say about my book. She thanked me for sending her an advance copy and said,
"I wasn’t prepared for it to be so good! You write well and the subject matter is so appropriate. It’s obvious you have been thinking about this for a long time…One good thing about being a cartoonist is with minds like ours, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to grow up! I don’t intend to – despite my age."
Thanks, Lynn. I appreciate the kudos. And keep up the excellent job sharing the Pattersons with the world.
I thought I had been fairly extensive in coming up with 88 ways to escape adulthood for my book. Somehow, I completely missed this one. According to a Japanese newspaper, the hottest ticket in town is a slumber party with some spineless sea creatures. Thirty lucky people won a lottery to experience the Enoshima Aquarium jellyfish tour. The experence includes dinner and educational behind-the-scenes access to the exhibit, followed by the opportunity to cozy up in sleeping bags in front of the jellyfish tank. According to the article,
Fans cite the "therapeutic" effect from simply gazing at the translucent marine creatures, with their bell-shaped saucers and trailing arms…The tour was created at the request of exhausted young mothers in their 20s and 30s, who sought a reprieve from their demanding lives.
I’m all for finding new ways to escape adulthood, and this one is certainly unique. Now, if only Sharper Image would start selling jellyfish tanks…
