Friends, family, strangers please take the time to follow me thru this for a few minutes and hopefully you'll even watch the video in the link. Not because it strokes my ego but because it can help you in so many aspects of life and possibly even live a longer & happier life.

We all experience stress in life, it's an inevitable fact of life. Whether it's school, home, work, relationships (friend or partner), paying bills, pushing ourselves in our sports or just the things that happen on a daily basis like putting up with traffic. We all experience stress on a daily basis. BUT, how we react to the stressors directly affects our own health and there's scientific data to back it up. Lots of proof, actually. 

When you experience something stressful your body releases Cortisol and Oxytocin, among other hormones. Cortisol, among other things, hardens the arteries, vessels, veins, everything in your cardiovascular system making it more brittle aiding in the increase percentages of suffering a potential cardiac situation. Oxytocin, also called the "Cuddle Hormone", does the opposite. It heals your cardiovascular system and increases it's elasticity. Oxytocin is a truly awesome hormone! It's is what urges you to reach out to others in stressful times and share or vent the stress to someone else. It's released in such simple things as a hug. That's right, you read that correctly, when you hug someone your body releases Oxytocin. It's also released when you do things for other people, volunteering, philanthropic work or even when you're cut-off in traffic simply waving the person in front of you instead of flipping them off, screaming or whatever. YOU have the power to control the healing of your cardiovascular system and increase your mental & physical health as well as your mood through how you manage the stressors in your life. Basically, you make stress your friend.

Now I'm not saying I'm perfect, because I'm definitely not, but I do try to remain calm as often as possible. One way that I do that is keeping this in mind; if I can't control it, I don't stress about it. I started this mindset as a means to not let other things or people "control" me and my attitude. Sometimes I come across as "flippant" but that's not at all what's going on. I choose to protect my mental & physical health as much as I can and that includes not giving stress more of my time & health than absolutely necessary. I'm asking all of you to think about this and give yourself some help in living happier, healthier and hopefully longer.

Please do yourself, and everyone that cares about you, a favor by giving someone a hug so Oxytocin can get released & strengthen your cardiovascular system. It's not just nice but it's good for the health of both people. And I'm sure the people that care about you would appreciate you do things to increase your chances of being around longer.

So please take 15 minutes and watch the video in the link, not for me but for yourself and the people in your life. I wish you all well and hope you get to release some extra Oxytocin today.

Thank you for taking the time,

Spencer

https://youtu.be/RcGyVTAoXEU