FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL AND ALREADY FATIGUED? Help Is Here!

Last week you were motivated, energetic, and excited to be back in school. However, this morning it was rough getting out of bed.

By the time you got to school you had already spend 15 minutes choosing and outfit, sent out seven texts to friends, sat in front of your computer, checked your Email, Twitter and Facebook, made the kids lunches then stopped and grabbed breakfast from one of the eight menu items at the closest fast food restaurant.

You run to your class and sit down, already feeling fatigued. The day has just started. You think, "How on earth am I going to do this all over again tomorrow?"

There are some basic scientific fixes to help keep your strength and stamina elevated all day.

The University of Minnesota conducted a study on stamina. They found that people who were asked to choose from an assortment of things to buy had less stamina and did worse on math problems than those who just looked at the options. It is better to give yourself less choices. Say out loud, I will wear my orange sweatshirt and light blue jeans today instead of looking in your closet, then trying to decide amongst the sea of clothes.

Try to space out using electronics, or power it off completely for an hour a day. Technology is great, but a British experiment showed an IQ dip of 10 points in those people who juggle several technology tasks at one time (like emailing, texting and talking on the phone.)

Throughout the day take a leap of joy. Literally jump up and down like you won the lottery. "This not only helps to get our heart rate up, but allowing yourself to be silly releases feel good endorphins and helps to get us in a better state of mind," says Elizabeth Lombardo PhD, author of "A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness."

Bring the color orange into your wardrobe. You can wear orange socks, accessorize with orange jewelry, carry and orange notebook or sticky notes, even set and orange on your desk for an afternoon snack. Colors such as red, yellow and orange are energizing because they activate our brain circuitry and gives us feelings of liveliness.

The smell of mint helps people to exercise longer and complete tasks faster and more accurately. Use a mint lotion, chew mint gum, drink mint tea, or keep an ounce of fresh mint on hand to put in drinks and salads. Even grow a spearmint plant indoors year round (brushing your fingers through the leaves releases the scent) suggests Pamela Dolton, PhD, a senior research scientist at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

When using social networking sites, field your negative messages and embrace the warm ones, when we receive nice messages from loved ones it releases a chemical called oxytocin which gives us feelings of well-being.

Make a list of  accomplishments,even if they are small, at the end of each day. Look at them every morning.  Studies have found that people who record performed tasks feel a sense of accomplishment which induces a positive mood which is associated with more energy.

So tomorrow show up to class smelling like mint, wearing bright orange, jump up and down laughing, and have a list of accomplishments pasted on the front of your school binder.

One suggestion, make sure to hand your instructor a copy of this article before he or fellow classmates suggest you seek physchiatric help.

At A Glance:
Addition Help for Fatigue, Supplements:
Astragalus:
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/herbsupplementguide/a/Astragalus.htm
Rhodiola:
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-rhodiola.html
Vitamin B Complex:
http://www.answers.com/topic/vitamin-b-complex
Vitamin C:
http://www.adrenalfatiguerecovery.com/vitamin-c.html

The Day The World Changed; September 11, 2001

Three thousand fifty one children lost a parent on September 11, 2001. The most horrific day in the history of the United States. Even though it has been 10 years, I remember it as if were yesterday.

I was driving to work listening to the radio, it was short jaunt to work and as a manager my days consisted of dealing with problems but nothing could prepare me for what I was about to experience.

All of a sudden the music stopped and there was an emergency radio announcement I will never forget.

A radio announcer started talking with a shaky voice.. “There have been unknown terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and …” this was all I heard; I parked my car and jumped out, running as fast as I could.

Entering the retail store I was managing, an eerie chill went down my spine. This once bustling store was dead silent, no cashiers were at their stations, a large group of  people were at the back of the store. The only sound was the  television screens that were all portraying the ghastly event.

At least a hundred people stood frozen watching as the first airplane hit the tower. The sound of gasps broke the silence, people reached out, held the hands of strangers and some started to screem, others cried. The planes crashed the towers, black smoke billowing, it was worse than any horror movie.

With hands covering our mouths, eyes locked on to the television screens, the scene felt like a bad dream.

For anyone witnessing these events, the images still haunt our memories daily.

I couldn’t breathe. My parents were on a plane back from Boston and I knew it flew from Boston to New York before heading back to Oregon.

Pulling out my cell phone I started calling every one of my six brothers and sisters. “Where are mom and dad? What plane are they on, when are they supposed to be here in Oregon?

My questions were all met with the same response… no one knew.

The next twelve hours were the worst of my adult life, waiting for a call, not knowing if my parents perished in one of those planes.
 
Twelve hours past which felt like an eternity. The phone rang. It was my dad telling me he was stuck in Washington State and he was renting a car to drive home.

I, standing in my living room, collapsed onto the couch and sobbed for at least an hour. My daughter who was only seven years old at the time, said “don’t cry mommy, don’t cry.”

Collins English Dictionary defines Terrorism as 1. The systematic use of violence and intimidation to achieve some goal.  2.the act of terrorizing. 3. The state of being terrorized.

Well the intimidation worked, the state of being terrorized worked. I will never be the same, as well as millions of Americans will never be the same.

Our suspicious nature has gotten worst, our racial profiling, and stereotyping has increased to an incredibly high levels due to the horrific events of September 11^th.
We are angry and we haven’t forgiven and it shows. The days of preaching peace… have given way to that of demanding war.

The truth of this statement is sad; our world will never be the same, and in my lifetime it will more than likely get worse. I feel for the next generation…that of my daughter… who wants peace but only sees sadness and violence.

Never will I take for granted our freedom, my family, my friends. We owe it to those who perished  and to those families who lost loved ones, to never forget.

The people of the United States should all feel saddened …not just for the abundance of unspoken stereotyping, profiling, and terrorism, that this event caused, but for the loss of humanity that once existed in this great nation.