Stress

     Stress. Pretty sure we all have a little more stress on our minds (and bodies) than we did way back when we were living in more tranquil times - January of this year, say. Ahhh, those were pleasant memories. We all deal with stress in different ways. Stress cooking and stress eating is pretty common. Hell, Gwyne cooked the other day. I do about 98% of the cooking in the house, so it was an uncommon sight to see her behind the stove. She made one of her childhood favorites, something called nikujaga. I stress ate what she stress cooked. There were some carrots in there, but it was mostly Japanese spiced ground beef and potatoes. She called her daughter who speaks Japanese and asked her what nikujaga meant and she said, “Well, niku is meat and jaga means potatoes.” Doh.
     If you’re not on lockdown now, you probably will be soon unless you are essential (and that varies wildly state by state). That’s going to disrupt everyone’s routine and it’s going to be stressful. I’ve done four separate contracts in Afghanistan, where you are mostly locked down. I’ve been on some big bases and some small FOB’s (Forward Operating Bases). On my second contract there, I was talking to a grizzled old vet who gave me some wise advice when he said, “Man, find yourself a routine.” Most of everyone’s routine there is working. 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. There was plenty of stress to start with there but the regular rocket attacks added to what was already a fairly difficult environment. I managed to settle into a rhythm there, I’d get up early, call Gwyne, go the DFAC (Dining Room Facility), have breakfast then take a 12 - 18 km bike ride, come back and put in my 12 hours.

Tour d’Bagram. Every morning, masked up.

Part of my evening routine was reading the Economist every week, I allocated certain segments for each day, that’s what I’d do at night. The stress was more tolerable (for me) when I was in lockdown and had a routine.
     I certainly did my share of stress eating in Afghanistan. I have a wee bit of a sweet tooth, and on one contract, you could tell what kind of day I was having by what time of day I was hitting the sauce (chocolate stash). If it was around 0830, then Alan was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. On another contract, everyone in the office knew of my sweet tooth, and in the beginning, I’d casually remark as I rummaged through the candy jar, “Hey, I’m a weak man.” It got to the point where I’d get close to the candy and say, “What am I?” And in Kenyan, Indian, Spanish and Southern U.S. accented English I’d hear back in chorus, “You are a weak man. A very weak man!” Might as well have some fun at work too, even in a stressful environment.
     But this is really different. Most of us are in our own house, hopefully not going out, or if you are, really practicing social distancing. And for those of us who are now on lockdown and have your routine disrupted, try to make a new routine at home. And yes, I know, it’s not easy. Some of us are able to work at home, that’s certainly helpful during the workweek, that occupies a chunk of time. But after work and during the weekend? Figure out what works for you and do it. Wanna stress eat? Go ahead. We can always lose a few pounds later. Some exercise? Go for it. There’s plenty of things you can do, light weights, resistance bands, learn some esoteric yoga exercises. Might help with stress. Reading? You should have plenty of time for it. House projects? There’s always something to do. Binge watch? I couldn’t make it through the first episode of Tiger King, but there’s plenty of other things to watch.
     But I think that now, more than ever, we should all be checking in with family and friends. We’re all in this together. So call them, e-mail, FaceTime, message - whatever. Things will be different when we come out on the other side of this, but for now, take care of your friends of family. That should be part of everyone’s routine now.