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from her. We were driving across the bridge from Fort Fisher to Wilmington. There was a lot of traffic. A number of cars were trailing me on the four lane road. I took the cards in my left hand and told my wife: ���This is what we will do with the cards.��� I held my left hand out the driver���s side window, thumbed the cards the way a dealer does at Vegas. The cards shot up in the air and then just as quickly began raining down on the windshields of the cars behind me. Cars started swaying in the traffic trying to avoid the playing cards. Others turned on their windshield wipers. Peggy looked back in horror at what was happening. Her mouth was agape. I had gone from calm, gentle Larry to a deranged madman in seconds. My reaction to stress had gotten the best of me. Ever had an experience where your stress got the best of you? Stress is a universal experience. It doesn���t matter whether you are a mom or a combat veteran or someone working on a deadline, we have all experienced stress. What can you do to help manage the stress in your life? I���d like to suggest a couple of tools you might use as firewalls in your life to help you cope with stress: Take a time out. When I am under stress, I will do and say things that can be hurtful. I have learned I need to step-away for a moment to try and calm down. Note the word ���need.��� In hindsight, I wish I would have told my wife I needed a time-out. Get exercise. I run, bike, work out and go hiking several times a week. I do that to try to stay shape, but I also do that to help me keep my sanity. When I���m exercising I work out the anxiety and frustration I am feeling. Allow me to add this takes a lot of energy and discipline because most of the times I don���t feel like exercising. I feel like sitting in my Lazy Boy in front of the TV. Do something for yourself. If you can, find a moment when you take care of yourself. I may go buy an espresso in the afternoon to enjoy while I work at my desk. Or, I may go for a 10 minute walk in the area where I work in downtown Fayetteville. Sometimes I even stop at McDonalds and get my favorite french fries, but then I have to do more exercise and spend even less time sitting in my Lazy Boy in front of the TV. Engage in meditation or some kind of discipline for your emotional and/ or spiritual well-being. Some people do yoga, others drink a cup of coffee in the morning to get their thoughts together. Some engage in a spiritual practice such as doing devotions or reading religious literature. I read religious literature because it helps me regain my perspective on life. I don���t know if you are like me, but I can lose my focus. Engaging in a spiritual practice helps me regain my focus. Share with someone appropriate about your stress. Since I am a combat veteran, I see a therapist at the VA several times a month about the stress I have faced and continue to face. I have learned I do far better if I process what I am feeling with someone. When I was on the bridge in Wilmington, I had not talked to anyone about my stress. Our physical, spiritual, and emotional batteries can get low and when that happens we are far more susceptible to reacting to stress rather than managing it. When your batteries are feeling low, look back through items 1 through 5 again. The bottom line is: stress can overwhelm anyone. In order to manage it, we need to build in firewalls like those listed above to help us cope. Otherwise, we can find ourselves in situations like mine on the bridge: ���Houston, we���ve got lift-off.��� CV Dr. Larry O. Toney is the Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in downtown Fayetteville and a chaplain in the Army Reserve. THE ADVANTAGE GROUP Karen Beam, Jenny Copeland, Jane Horrocks $385,000 $436,000 $310,000 Luxury Living Just Minutes From Fayetteville & Ft. Bragg We never stop moving. sm AdvAntAge ���Helping People Make the Right Move��� 910-960-7363 Call to schedule an appointment today! www.fayettevillenc4sale.com CityViewNC.com | 13

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