Are You Teflon Or Velcro?

I was reading a diabetes magazine recently, and stumbled upon an article that I found very interesting. It had to do with stress, and how stress can lead to increase in one's blood glucose levels. In other words, stress is one of the factors in diabetes. I knew that already. Ron first developed diabetes in about 2002, at the time when he was feeling tremendous stress from business. Just prior to his 19 months in Taft, Ron's diabetes was completely out of control, in fact it was so bad that the endocrinologist was ready to put him on insulin injections. Luckily he didn't go this route, for when his life settled down, so did his glucose levels.

Back to the article. Are you a Teflon type or a Velcro type? It makes a huge difference in how you handle stress. I am a Teflon type. I let problems slide off me. I deal with them and then forget about them. I don't stew about a situation, especially one that is out of my control. This is a good thing, as increased stress is bad for you in many ways. Ron is a Velcro type. He can't let things go. If he's looking for a parking spot and someone slips in and takes a spot he was waiting for, he may still be mad about that hours later. The Teflon type would have been angry at the moment, then let it go.

There are many ways experts suggest reducing stress, and maybe some of them help(yoga, meditation, etc.). However, I think you are pretty much one type or another, and it's hard to change. We are what we are. Velcro types need to be aware of situations that will increase their stress levels, and try to moderate the stress. I do believe yoga and meditation have many benefits for everyone, but especially for the Velcro type personality. The problem is that many Velcro types are also Type A's, and have trouble sitting still to meditate or practice yoga. It's worth trying, though. It's a beautiful Sunday morning, and I'm off to yoga right now. I wish I could get Ron to come along.