Hello and welcome to
Health for a Lifetime.
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I'm your host Don Mackintosh.
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Today it's my distinct
privilege to have with us
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Dr. MacCarty.
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He's a doctor in ministry
and over the last 20 years,
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and even more than that,
you've been dealing with people
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in ministry and seeing
them in all kinds of situations.
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A minister, someone has
said, is someone that works with
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people when they're "hatched,"
when they're "matched," and
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when they're "dispatched. "
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You and I both
share that together.
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As a matter of fact
we got to work together
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a few years ago.
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One of the things I've noticed
is that during the happy times
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and what-not, ministers -
you can take them or leave them.
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But when there is stress
and when there's problems
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there's nobody else that
people want than a minister.
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I remember you and I talking
one time and you said to me,
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"You know Don, you've
got to pay the rent. "
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"You got to take care
of the things that are
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really important. "
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I think stress and the way we
relate to it is very important.
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That's why we're
talking about the subject today.
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What exactly is stress?
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Stress has been referred
to through the centuries
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as times of difficulty for
people, but what's new today
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since the 1920's and
30's is that we know there's a
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correlation
between stress and health.
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It wasn't until 1926 when
the first medical researcher
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wrote an article in which this
correlation was demonstrated.
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When he did that there was
no word to describe what he was
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trying to portray.
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He was trying to portray
that the pressures of life
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damage our health and can
damage our health and build to
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a danger point.
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So he looked around for a
word to use to describe this
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and he chose strictus - a Latin
term which was the measurement
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of the amount of pressure that
could be placed on an object
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before it collapsed.
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It was an
engineering term, actually,
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He began to relate that,
strictus, our word stress,
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to health.
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Since then its been gradually
growing in the medical community
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understanding that there is
a direct relationship between
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stress and health.
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So like a Boa Constrictor - it
just gets tighter and tighter -
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that word strictus.
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Interesting.
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In your seminar, which I've
looked at, that's an excellent
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seminar, Beyond Coping,
and it has been adopted by the
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General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists,
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as I understand.
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And you gave a
lecture there at the
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11th International
Congress on Stress.
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In that, as I looked at
that, you have something called
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the "Stress Tank. "
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What exactly is that?
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The stress tank
came out of Australia.
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I was looking for a model,
as I put my seminar together,
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that would show the relationship
that the whole issues of stress
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in one single graphic.
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The stress tank
helped me do that.
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It starts out with
a list of stressors.
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We're subjected to stressors
every day of our lives.
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But if you think of your life
as like a stress tank, or think
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of at least all of us have
a stress tank in our lives.
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That tank is being filled
every day by various kinds
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of stressors - everything from:
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Just an
accumulation of little things.
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It all adds up to stress.
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If the tank reaches the
top then that becomes serious.
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So loss of job,
trouble financially, relational
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conflicts, a whole bunch of
illnesses, all these different
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things you have listed here.
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I have a man that I was
just visiting a couple hours
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ago before I came here.
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He had had one health problem
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after another, after another,
after another, and his cup
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was, I guess you'd say,
was running over in a bad way.
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Yes, that can happen.
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When we receive too much
stress and we're not handling it
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properly, then it
builds to the overload point.
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At that point
various kinds of harm result.
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There's a breakdown of health.
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Medical researchers today are
unanimous in saying somewhere
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between 60- 90 percent of
all visits to physicians are
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health related.
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The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
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estimates that 60- 80 percent
of all industrial accidents are
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stress related.
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Relationships are effected
adversely by too much stress.
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There's just so many harmful
things to take place when we
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have too much stress.
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We really have to
be careful when these
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types of things happen.
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This is the time
to pull together.
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Right.
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There's a
fascinating research done at the
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University of
Chicago back in the 1970's.
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The Salvotore
Maddi and Suzanne Kobasa,
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professors there at
the University of Chicago,
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researched 246
executives of AT&T during a time
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when AT&T was breaking up.
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The government monopoly
was over and new companies were
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coming in, new phone
companies were coming in.
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The red line on the graph
shows the amount of stress that
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executives were experiencing.
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The green line, the lower line,
shows the amount of illnesses
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and visits to
doctors that occurred.
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The first two years when
it looked like AT&T was...
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people were loosing jobs and
being transferred to positions
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that they weren't qualified for,
the stress went up parallel,
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the visits to doctors
went up parallel with the
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amount of stress.
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Fascinating.
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So in other words, when
they thought they were going to
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loose their job, they were all
uncomfortable, and everything,
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they started to get
sick at the same rate as
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the stress was going up.
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And then it leveled off for
a couple years where it looked
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like AT&T had weathered the
storm and illnesses dropped.
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When they beat the competition,
so to speak, or it looked like
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they were going to make it,
they didn't get sick anymore.
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Right.
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Then after that next couple
of years, about 1974 or 1976,
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it began to climb again for the
next six years parallel to the
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amount of stress
they were experiencing.
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When they realized MCC, MCI, and
Sprint and these other companies
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were coming in and they were
going to be tough competitors.
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So there is a
direct correlation.
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I like that graph because
it shows the direct correlation
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between stress and illness.
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Stress and illness -
there's a real correlation.
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We've really talked about
some harmful effects of stress.
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It's not just
something to mess around with.
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You can't just say, "Oh you're
stressed out, everybody is. "
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It is something
you need to deal with.
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That's right.
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But there's good news too.
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Well, yes, let's
get to the good news.
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What do we do to deal with it?
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If we go back to the
Stress Tank we find that
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there is a pressure relief valve
on the Stress Tank, so to speak.
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So when pressure
mounts to a high point,
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the pressure relief valve - in
fact the pressure relief valve
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when it's fully open can
keep it from mounting to an
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extremely high point.
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The acronym that I use for the
seven keys to managing stress
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is PREVENT.
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When these keys are operating
in our lives in a balanced way
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it prevents the build up of
stress to the harmful point.
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So what are some of those keys?
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What do you mean by viewpoint?
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Viewpoint is your
attitude toward life.
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It's very, very
important, extremely important.
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In fact you can put
these seven keys into a
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hierarchical order.
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I developed the
stress management pyramid.
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On the bottom of this pyramid
you have those that are less
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important and at the very
top you have the most important.
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It works up into a kind
of hierarchical fashion.
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Viewpoint is your
attitude toward life.
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You take a positive attitude
toward life and you take
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negative things that happen
and you see positive potential
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in those negative
things that happen.
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So last week when my truck
got stuck in the mud - it was a
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4- wheel drive, I was in Kansas,
and I'm driving down the road
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in a 4-wheel drive, I think
I'm invincible, and I get stuck
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and I can't even move.
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I know you well enough -
and you laughed about it!
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Well, I got out and I sank down
into the mud, so I got back in
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my new truck, I had mud all over
the truck, but you know what?
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I thought this a peaceful
time to just be able to study!
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No one's going to interrupt me.
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I made a phone call
and 2-1/2 hours later
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I had the best sermon
illustration I've ever had!
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You're exactly right.
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So this is VIEWPOINT.
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That's what we're
talking about when we we're
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talking about
viewpoint among other things.
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That's a very
important part of it.
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And then finally the spiritual
integration at the very top
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is extremely important.
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Spiritual is pray,
that's the top, that's the apex.
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Exactly.
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I had an experience one
time a number of years ago,
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where I learned how important
the spiritual component was.
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I was backpacking during
the summer with my three sons.
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My oldest, Michael, was 10 years
old, my second oldest, Andrew,
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was 7, and my
youngest, Marcus, was 5.
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We were up in
the Highuenta area.
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We had packed in 3
miles from the trail-head.
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It was in a wilderness area.
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We had a lake all to ourselves.
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My two oldest Andrew and Michael
pitched a tent about 30-40 yards
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into the woods
from us, Marcus and I,
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to kind of show
their independence.
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They had been out a number
of summers now and they kind of
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do it on their own.
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In the middle of the night
I woke up to a blood curdling
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scream and I
recognized Andrew's voice.
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That terrified you and
increased your stress level.
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I grabbed my flashlight, zipped
my bag open, shined the light
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to the trees, and saw
the tent moving a little bit.
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And of course my adrenalin
levels went up even farther.
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I raced out of my tent
toward their tent, shining my
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flashlight to make sure there
weren't any predators around.
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I couldn't see anything.
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Then when I zipped
their tent open I knew exactly
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what had happened.
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Andrew woke up in the middle
of the night, he didn't know
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where he was, he sat up and his
head hit the top of the tent,
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and then he knew
he was in trouble.
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It was pitch black and there my
light was shining in his face.
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That wasn't helping matters.
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But if you could have
seen his face - it was a look
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of abject terror.
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His adrenaline levels, his
cortisone levels, were sky high.
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That is what stress is.
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Stress is a biochemical response
to threatening circumstances -
00:11:32.72\00:11:36.44
anything we consider a
threatening circumstance.
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Even if it's not real.
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Even if it is not
real, that's exactly right.
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And he was terrified.
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So immediately I recognized
that the light shining in his
00:11:44.78\00:11:47.39
face wasn't doing
any good to anybody.
00:11:47.42\00:11:49.23
It was like a deer with the
light in his face just kind of
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staying stationary.
00:11:52.14\00:11:53.11
So I shined it back on my
own face, just turned it back on
00:11:53.12\00:11:56.00
my face so he could see my face.
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In the next 30 seconds or
less this is what happened.
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He just said two
words, "Oh, Daddy!"
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His face totally
melted into complete peace.
00:12:05.27\00:12:09.34
Complete peace.
00:12:09.38\00:12:10.59
He laid down and he was
sound asleep in seconds.
00:12:10.63\00:12:13.49
Within seconds!
00:12:13.52\00:12:15.20
And I went back to my
bag that night and I thought,
00:12:15.23\00:12:17.27
this is just awesome
what's happened here.
00:12:17.31\00:12:19.91
I thought this is exactly
what the spiritual component
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is all about.
00:12:22.59\00:12:23.72
Nothing could have reduced
his stress level so quickly,
00:12:23.75\00:12:28.47
so deeply, as that experience.
00:12:28.51\00:12:31.16
Because there was somebody
he knew and trusted and had
00:12:31.20\00:12:35.52
confidence in that was
his protector at that time.
00:12:35.56\00:12:39.82
The spiritual relationship
is developing a faith and trust
00:12:39.85\00:12:44.26
in God over a period of
time in everyday experiences
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when the panic time comes
then we know Him face to face.
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You still may panic but
then you remember, oh yes, my
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Heavenly Father is here
and you can relax and it's a
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powerful stress reliever.
00:12:59.77\00:13:00.89
That's the ultimate
stress relief valve, wow!
00:13:00.92\00:13:05.22
Pressure relief valve.
00:13:05.25\00:13:06.53
Andrew doing fine now?
00:13:06.56\00:13:07.77
He's doing great! - laughter -
00:13:07.80\00:13:09.79
Does he camp that far away now?
00:13:09.83\00:13:11.76
We haven't been camping lately.
00:13:11.80\00:13:13.69
He is now a CPA in Denver.
00:13:13.73\00:13:15.91
Well, he has a
different kind of stress.
00:13:15.95\00:13:18.14
He probably calls Dad
now and then and says,
00:13:18.17\00:13:20.33
"What do I do now
in this situation. "
00:13:20.36\00:13:21.55
He's actually learned
to handle things very well.
00:13:21.59\00:13:23.96
These 7 keys again:
00:13:23.99\00:13:27.05
eating healthfully,
exercise, relaxation,
00:13:27.08\00:13:32.04
time management,
love relationships,
00:13:32.08\00:13:33.89
viewpoint, and
spiritual integration.
00:13:33.93\00:13:35.68
In your seminar, Beyond Coping,
you probably developed these
00:13:35.71\00:13:39.55
a lot further, don't you?
00:13:39.59\00:13:40.64
Yes, that's what we do.
00:13:40.67\00:13:41.65
It's a 12 hour seminar and
we take each one of these keys
00:13:41.69\00:13:45.63
and we show how it
relates to stress management
00:13:45.67\00:13:47.37
among other things.
00:13:47.41\00:13:49.04
We just unpack them one by one.
00:13:49.08\00:13:50.91
How are people
responding to this?
00:13:50.94\00:13:52.74
Does it help them?
00:13:52.77\00:13:54.34
Fantastically! Fantastically!
00:13:54.38\00:13:56.12
I just held a seminar
and trained 90 people at
00:13:56.16\00:13:59.63
Andrews University where they
came in from around the country.
00:13:59.67\00:14:02.04
The NAD, the North
American Division of Seventh-day
00:14:02.08\00:14:04.52
Adventists, sent
them there to be trained.
00:14:04.55\00:14:05.71
Some Seminary
students were there.
00:14:05.74\00:14:07.54
And just got
wonderful response afterwards.
00:14:07.58\00:14:11.27
I spend most of my time now
training trainers to be able
00:14:11.31\00:14:14.83
to do these seminars.
00:14:14.87\00:14:16.33
That must be gratifying.
00:14:16.37\00:14:17.77
I'm sure they have all kinds
of stories that ultimately they
00:14:17.80\00:14:20.73
tell you much like the
story you just told about Andrew
00:14:20.77\00:14:23.69
about how
people's lives are changed.
00:14:23.73\00:14:25.23
Right.
00:14:25.27\00:14:26.32
We've been talking
with Dr. Skip MacCarty.
00:14:26.36\00:14:28.40
He's a doctor in ministry and
he's been dealing with people
00:14:28.43\00:14:31.15
in stressful
situations for many years.
00:14:31.19\00:14:33.67
Now he's at that time of life
where he's able to help others
00:14:33.70\00:14:36.64
know how to deal with
this both personally and in
00:14:36.68\00:14:39.62
group settings.
00:14:39.65\00:14:40.62
We're excited about this
material but more than that
00:14:40.63\00:14:43.27
we're excited that
you've joined us today.
00:14:43.30\00:14:45.05
When we come back we want
to look further at stress.
00:14:45.08\00:14:47.66
What are some ineffective
ways with coping with stress
00:14:47.70\00:14:50.24
and how can we avoid them.
00:14:50.28\00:14:51.45
We hope you join
us when we come back.
00:14:51.49\00:14:53.74
Have you found
yourself wishing that you could
00:14:55.77\00:14:57.28
shed a few pounds?
00:14:57.32\00:14:58.29
Have you been on a
diet for most of your life?
00:14:58.30\00:15:00.94
But not found anything that
will really keep the weight off?
00:15:00.97\00:15:04.16
If you've answered yes to
any of these questions, then we
00:15:04.19\00:15:07.34
have a solution
for you that works.
00:15:07.37\00:15:09.94
Dr. Hans Diehl and
Dr. Aileen Ludington
00:15:09.98\00:15:12.30
have written a
marvelous booklet called,
00:15:12.33\00:15:14.58
Reversing Obesity Naturally,
and we'd like to send it to you
00:15:14.62\00:15:18.26
free of charge.
00:15:18.29\00:15:19.38
Here's a medically sound
approach successfully used
00:15:19.42\00:15:22.39
by thousands who
are able to eat more
00:15:22.43\00:15:24.55
and loose weight permanently
00:15:24.59\00:15:26.30
without feeling guilty or hungry
through lifestyle medicine.
00:15:26.33\00:15:29.83
Dr. Diehl and Dr. Ludington
have been featured on 3ABN
00:15:29.87\00:15:33.50
and in this booklet they present
a sensible approach to eating,
00:15:33.53\00:15:37.04
nutrition, and lifestyle changes
that can help you prevent
00:15:37.07\00:15:40.27
heart disease,
diabetes, and even cancer.
00:15:40.30\00:15:42.75
Call or write
today for your free copy:
00:15:42.79\00:15:45.20
Welcome back.
00:15:56.53\00:15:57.67
We've been talking
with Dr. Skip MacCarty.
00:15:57.71\00:15:59.72
He's a doctor in ministry.
00:15:59.75\00:16:01.12
Over the last 20 years
he's been involved in ministry
00:16:01.16\00:16:03.77
dealing with people in
many stressful situations.
00:16:03.81\00:16:06.36
He's written a new seminar
called, Stress Beyond Coping.
00:16:06.39\00:16:10.34
We're delighted that he
can take time from his schedule
00:16:10.38\00:16:14.30
to be with us today.
00:16:14.33\00:16:15.30
Dr. MacCarty, you know, we've
been talking about effective
00:16:15.31\00:16:19.48
keys for coping with stress.
00:16:19.51\00:16:21.73
You've gone through 7 of those.
00:16:21.77\00:16:23.92
Work us through those again
so those who are just joining us
00:16:23.95\00:16:27.07
might catch up with us.
00:16:27.11\00:16:29.09
We were talking
about the stress pyramid.
00:16:29.13\00:16:31.74
The keys are:
00:16:31.78\00:16:34.26
The spiritual being the most
important component of them.
00:16:40.86\00:16:45.34
Those are researched based
hierarchy, based on my research.
00:16:45.38\00:16:49.28
In your seminar you really
develop these and they unfold.
00:16:49.32\00:16:53.19
People begin to understand
really what they all mean
00:16:53.23\00:16:55.30
and how they relate to stress.
00:16:55.34\00:16:56.66
The key to managing stress
is keeping these 7 components
00:16:56.70\00:17:01.16
of managing stress
in balance in our lives.
00:17:01.19\00:17:04.45
Are there ineffective ways?
00:17:04.49\00:17:06.19
Are there people that get
stressed out and then they have
00:17:06.23\00:17:08.71
ineffective ways of
dealing with stress?
00:17:08.75\00:17:10.79
Interesting that you would
ask that because the ways that
00:17:10.83\00:17:15.23
people often cope with stress:
00:17:15.27\00:17:17.22
These are things that
work short-term for people
00:17:23.87\00:17:26.63
but in the long
run they boomerang.
00:17:26.67\00:17:28.29
I noticed that you
used the acronym CLOSE.
00:17:28.32\00:17:31.78
Is this what you mean by
that - that it just closes off
00:17:31.82\00:17:34.60
the real effective?
00:17:34.64\00:17:36.13
Well, it closes the
pressure relief valve.
00:17:36.16\00:17:38.96
We've talked before about
the 7 keys to managing stress.
00:17:38.99\00:17:43.12
Open the pressure relief
valve, drain the stress tank
00:17:43.15\00:17:45.54
to a safe level.
00:17:45.58\00:17:46.55
These behaviors that
we've just talked about -
00:17:46.56\00:17:52.26
caffeine, alcohol - they
close the pressure relief valve.
00:17:52.30\00:17:56.86
It doesn't seem like it,
but ultimately, in the long run,
00:17:56.90\00:18:01.43
it closes those.
00:18:01.46\00:18:02.43
Stress builds and we're not
really managing stress healthy.
00:18:02.44\00:18:05.65
Do different people
relate differently to stress?
00:18:05.68\00:18:07.33
Can I relate to more stress
than you or you more than me
00:18:07.36\00:18:11.13
perhaps in some settings?
00:18:11.16\00:18:12.35
People can handle
different amounts of stress.
00:18:12.38\00:18:15.34
I illustrate this in the stress
tank by the size of the tank.
00:18:15.37\00:18:19.56
Some people have
larger stress tanks.
00:18:19.60\00:18:21.48
They can deal with
more stress at any one time
00:18:21.51\00:18:25.74
in their lives.
00:18:25.78\00:18:26.75
There are various ways
that the size of our stress tank
00:18:26.76\00:18:31.29
are created.
00:18:31.32\00:18:32.49
The only one that we
don't have control over is our
00:18:32.52\00:18:36.17
endowment or
heredity that's given to us.
00:18:36.20\00:18:38.37
But the others:
00:18:38.41\00:18:39.38
We can do something
about all those things.
00:18:48.01\00:18:51.61
All are ways to
create larger stress tanks.
00:18:51.65\00:18:55.17
This is just kind of how
we're created, how we're built.
00:18:55.21\00:18:57.45
My wife can really
tolerate certain types of stress
00:18:57.49\00:19:02.69
quite a bit.
00:19:02.72\00:19:03.69
For instance, I'm probably one
of her major stressors, right?!
00:19:03.70\00:19:06.51
I'm just joking with that.
00:19:06.55\00:19:10.29
But there are some things that
she just really, really, really
00:19:10.32\00:19:13.81
does well with.
00:19:13.84\00:19:14.81
There are some things that
she doesn't do as well with
00:19:14.82\00:19:16.95
that I do better with.
00:19:16.98\00:19:17.95
We kind of
balance each other out.
00:19:17.96\00:19:22.28
When I'm down, she's up.
00:19:22.31\00:19:24.73
We work well together.
00:19:24.77\00:19:27.05
I noticed something
there - executive hardiness.
00:19:27.08\00:19:29.51
I'd like to have that.
00:19:29.54\00:19:30.65
What is that?
00:19:30.68\00:19:31.70
It sounds good.
00:19:31.74\00:19:32.71
Remember that graph we looked
at when AT&T was studied by the
00:19:32.73\00:19:38.60
professors at the
University of Chicago?
00:19:38.64\00:19:39.88
As the stress levels
rose, except for a 2 year period
00:19:39.92\00:19:44.39
when the stress had
leveled out, the illnesses rose
00:19:44.42\00:19:46.92
parallel to the stress levels.
00:19:46.96\00:19:48.57
There were 246 executives
at AT&T that were studied.
00:19:48.61\00:19:52.25
There was a group of those
executives that did not follow
00:19:52.29\00:19:54.12
that pattern.
00:19:54.16\00:19:55.17
They maintained
good health through that
00:19:55.20\00:19:56.30
whole period of time.
00:19:56.33\00:19:57.30
There were three characteristics
that Salvotore Maddi and
00:19:57.31\00:20:02.11
Suzanne Kobasa discovered among
those executives that maintained
00:20:02.14\00:20:06.54
good health, and they
called them "The Big 3."
00:20:06.57\00:20:08.67
The wrote a book
afterwards called
00:20:08.70\00:20:10.05
"The Hardy
Executive: Health Under Stress"
00:20:10.09\00:20:12.46
Those characteristics
were first of all, CONTROL.
00:20:12.50\00:20:17.84
3 C's - Control
00:20:17.88\00:20:21.14
The executives that maintained
their health during that time
00:20:21.18\00:20:25.92
even though AT&T was firing
some of them, others were being
00:20:25.95\00:20:30.31
moved to jobs they weren't
even trained for, or whatever,
00:20:30.34\00:20:33.92
there was a very distressful
time, they kept reminding
00:20:33.96\00:20:36.96
themselves AT&T did not
have control of their lives.
00:20:37.00\00:20:39.94
They could fire them but
there was other jobs out there.
00:20:39.97\00:20:42.67
They had been trained
well and they could get
00:20:42.71\00:20:44.71
other jobs if they wanted to.
00:20:44.75\00:20:45.99
Control was a big factor.
00:20:46.03\00:20:47.18
Just their sense that I'm
still in control of my life.
00:20:47.21\00:20:50.32
That sense of being in control
was one of the factors that
00:20:50.36\00:20:53.43
helped them.
00:20:53.47\00:20:54.44
Do you think that
was a choice they made?
00:20:54.45\00:20:55.91
It was a choice.
00:20:55.95\00:20:57.04
It's an attitude that
you carry with you about life
00:20:57.07\00:21:00.00
that when you get in a stressful
situation you still have control
00:21:00.03\00:21:02.52
of your life.
00:21:02.56\00:21:03.53
The second characteristic,
the second "C," is CHALLENGE.
00:21:03.54\00:21:08.74
They accepted these dramatic
changes taking place in their
00:21:08.78\00:21:13.99
life as a challenge.
00:21:14.03\00:21:16.93
It's very interesting
the Chinese word for crisis
00:21:16.96\00:21:20.52
is a compound word
made up of two words.
00:21:20.56\00:21:23.87
One is "danger" the
other is "opportunity. "
00:21:23.90\00:21:27.18
Hmm... neat!
00:21:27.22\00:21:28.19
I read that one time and so
I talked to a Chinese student
00:21:28.20\00:21:32.18
at Andrews University
and said, "Is this true?"
00:21:32.22\00:21:33.53
He went and got his Chinese
dictionary and he showed me.
00:21:33.57\00:21:35.85
Absolutely true!
00:21:35.88\00:21:37.08
The word for crisis
in Chinese is made up of
00:21:37.11\00:21:38.86
danger and opportunity, those
two words, a compound word.
00:21:38.89\00:21:43.13
Explain what it means.
00:21:43.17\00:21:46.65
What it means for stress
management, what it meant
00:21:46.69\00:21:48.55
for these executives
that were not getting ill,
00:21:48.59\00:21:50.38
as stress levels rose, was that
they looked upon the changes
00:21:50.42\00:21:55.31
taking place, that were quite
threatening if you got fired
00:21:55.34\00:21:58.12
from a career that you've
been with for a long time,
00:21:58.16\00:22:00.38
thought you might be there
until retirement, and you're
00:22:00.41\00:22:02.78
suddenly fired because of
changes taking place in society,
00:22:02.81\00:22:05.15
that can be quite threatening.
00:22:05.18\00:22:06.45
They looked at that as an
opportunity, as a challenge.
00:22:06.48\00:22:10.43
Stress management is
being able to look at every
00:22:10.46\00:22:14.41
stressful
situation as an opportunity.
00:22:14.44\00:22:16.61
I had an experience
just a short time ago.
00:22:16.64\00:22:20.21
I was giving a presentation
at Willow Creek Community Church
00:22:20.25\00:22:24.26
in Chicago.
00:22:24.30\00:22:25.27
They asked me to come down
and start with a group of maybe
00:22:25.28\00:22:28.14
30 staff members.
00:22:28.17\00:22:29.44
They were the
lower level staff members
00:22:29.48\00:22:31.54
of that huge congregation
with 500 staff members.
00:22:31.57\00:22:33.91
I gave a one hour presentation
one day, one hour presentation
00:22:33.94\00:22:37.62
the next day.
00:22:37.65\00:22:38.62
In the first day I brought
up these "3 C's" and explained
00:22:38.63\00:22:42.41
the "3 C's" and CHALLENGE
being one of them and every
00:22:42.45\00:22:46.34
stressful
situation is an opportunity.
00:22:46.38\00:22:48.09
The second day as we came
back to our session, a lady
00:22:48.13\00:22:51.05
raised her hand and she
said, "I've got to tell you
00:22:51.09\00:22:53.98
this story. "
00:22:54.01\00:22:54.98
"On my way home from work
last night, I was on the freeway
00:22:54.99\00:22:59.21
in Chicago and
my car broke down.
00:22:59.25\00:23:01.03
So I got on my cell phone
and I called my husband. "
00:23:01.07\00:23:05.45
He said, "Honey, I'm just
putting my golf clubs in the
00:23:05.48\00:23:09.83
car, I'm going
golfing, get the car fixed. "
00:23:09.86\00:23:12.51
Oh my, sounds like
a very sensitive guy!
00:23:12.55\00:23:15.13
She said, "Ordinarily I would
have gone through the roof,
00:23:15.17\00:23:18.01
that would have been war.
00:23:18.05\00:23:19.10
But I immediately
thought this is a CHALLENGE,
00:23:19.13\00:23:22.34
this is an opportunity.
00:23:22.38\00:23:23.35
Somewhere there is
an opportunity here. "
00:23:23.36\00:23:24.97
So she called and found
out there was a service company
00:23:25.00\00:23:30.70
close by that took
care of cars on the highway.
00:23:30.74\00:23:35.15
They got her right in there,
she got the car fixed, she was
00:23:35.19\00:23:39.18
home before her
husband got home from golfing,
00:23:39.22\00:23:41.92
she was home, car
was in the garage.
00:23:41.95\00:23:43.45
He drove in the driveway,
drove in the garage, he didn't
00:23:43.48\00:23:46.55
come in for some period of time.
00:23:46.58\00:23:47.89
- laughter - I'm sure he didn't!
00:23:47.92\00:23:49.16
Then he came in and his
first words to her were,
00:23:49.19\00:23:52.27
"They didn't
fix the car right. "
00:23:52.31\00:23:54.65
And she said to the
class, "Again that was a war
00:23:54.68\00:23:58.42
statement for me. "
00:23:58.46\00:23:59.85
Yes, it was!
00:23:59.89\00:24:01.04
But she said, "Honey,
let me tell you the story. "
00:24:01.08\00:24:02.94
"God was so good because when
the car broke down, there was a
00:24:02.98\00:24:06.52
service repair person close
by, he came right out, got the
00:24:06.55\00:24:10.20
car fixed, it's running fine,
and if it's not perfect it's
00:24:10.23\00:24:13.84
still running fine. "
00:24:13.87\00:24:14.84
She said, "Immediately
his whole attitude, his whole
00:24:14.85\00:24:17.33
spirit changed and we had
a wonderful evening together
00:24:17.37\00:24:20.06
instead of an evening
of war which we would have
00:24:20.10\00:24:21.66
had otherwise. "
00:24:21.69\00:24:22.66
So looking at stressful
situations as an opportunity,
00:24:22.67\00:24:26.38
as a challenge is a
second characteristic they found
00:24:26.42\00:24:30.22
in those 3 C's.
00:24:30.26\00:24:31.23
The third one was
something called COMMITMENT.
00:24:31.24\00:24:34.45
These executives that maintained
good health while all these
00:24:34.49\00:24:38.88
changes were taking place,
these executives were committed
00:24:38.91\00:24:43.27
to certain values that
AT&T can't change our values.
00:24:43.30\00:24:46.79
We're committed to these
important people in our life
00:24:46.83\00:24:50.28
and they can't
change those things.
00:24:50.32\00:24:51.72
CONTROL, CHALLENGE, COMMITMENT
00:24:51.75\00:24:54.21
were keys to their health.
00:24:54.25\00:24:56.23
So remembering the 3 C's.
00:24:56.27\00:24:58.18
CONTROL, CHALLENGE, COMMITMENT
00:24:58.21\00:25:02.51
That is executive hardiness.
00:25:02.54\00:25:04.16
Well, we have about 3 minutes
left and I don't mean to stress
00:25:04.19\00:25:06.63
you out with that, but is there
anything else we should know
00:25:06.67\00:25:09.07
about stress or the stress tank?
00:25:09.10\00:25:10.90
Well, there is one
other element to this.
00:25:10.94\00:25:14.19
We know that too much stress,
overloaded stress, can cause
00:25:14.23\00:25:20.96
various kinds of harm.
00:25:21.00\00:25:22.59
We've been talking about that.
00:25:22.62\00:25:24.50
But one of the interesting
things that research has brought
00:25:24.53\00:25:27.26
out about stress is that
you can have too little stress.
00:25:27.30\00:25:30.39
In fact Dr. Hans Sale, the
father of stress management,
00:25:30.43\00:25:33.54
the one who wrote the first
article in 1926, the one that
00:25:33.58\00:25:36.65
wrote the first book in
1950 on stress, he believed
00:25:36.69\00:25:47.21
that too little stress is
actually more harmful than
00:25:47.24\00:25:49.61
too much stress.
00:25:49.64\00:25:50.66
You'll notice that the pressure
relief valve on the stress tank
00:25:50.69\00:25:54.97
does not drain the stress levels
all the way down to the bottom
00:25:55.01\00:25:59.26
because we need some stress.
00:25:59.29\00:26:01.83
That's distress,
that's harmful stress.
00:26:01.86\00:26:04.90
The positive stress in
our life is called "Eustress"
00:26:04.93\00:26:09.35
The little prefix "eu" is
a Greek prefix coming from...
00:26:09.38\00:26:13.11
it means good and eulogy
means speaking well of somebody,
00:26:13.15\00:26:16.84
and euphoria is a
feeling of well being.
00:26:16.87\00:26:19.71
We need a certain
amount of stress to feel good.
00:26:19.74\00:26:24.09
So we need to be right
in the middle of that tank?
00:26:24.12\00:26:25.48
We need to have some stress.
00:26:25.51\00:26:27.53
Now there's stress not to
have and there's stress that's
00:26:27.56\00:26:30.27
valuable to have.
00:26:30.30\00:26:31.27
And the stress not to have
is... the Bible has a whole lot
00:26:31.28\00:26:36.93
of counsel, commandments,
that if we keep them we'll be
00:26:36.96\00:26:42.74
protected from stress
that has no real purpose.
00:26:42.77\00:26:46.28
So the commandments like
- Thou shalt have no other
00:26:46.32\00:26:49.76
god's before Me - if we
have a multiplicity gods
00:26:49.80\00:26:52.22
it will confuse us.
00:26:52.26\00:26:53.38
Or steal, don't commit
adultery - that gets you into
00:26:53.41\00:26:56.33
a lot of stress.
00:26:56.36\00:26:57.33
Yes, a lot of stress that
we're being protected from.
00:26:57.34\00:27:00.27
However, keeping those
same commandments will at times
00:27:00.31\00:27:03.72
cause stress, it will
create stress, people will turn
00:27:03.76\00:27:07.01
against us, and that's the
kind of stress that we want.
00:27:07.05\00:27:10.27
Eustress is positive
stress, beneficial stress.
00:27:10.30\00:27:12.42
So coming out of Egypt, getting
out of the bad situation,
00:27:12.45\00:27:15.06
that was stressful,
out of their comfort zone.
00:27:15.09\00:27:18.81
Exercise is putting
yourself under stress.
00:27:18.84\00:27:22.49
Setting goals, working
to achieve goals, these are
00:27:22.52\00:27:24.82
positive stress, valuable stress
that we need in our lives.
00:27:24.85\00:27:28.09
The name of the seminar
is Stress Beyond Coping.
00:27:28.13\00:27:32.76
We've been talking
with Dr. Skip MacCarty.
00:27:32.79\00:27:34.97
These are resource materials
that I know you would greatly
00:27:35.00\00:27:39.84
benefit from.
00:27:39.87\00:27:40.84
We hope that today's
program will give you a sense of
00:27:40.85\00:27:43.79
CONTROL, will CHALLENGE you
and will also lead you to make
00:27:43.82\00:27:47.28
COMMITMENTS that you
need to, to God and to others
00:27:47.32\00:27:50.23
as you start to understand
more fully these 7 keys.
00:27:50.26\00:27:53.13
We hope that you also have
00:27:53.17\00:27:54.67
health that
lasts for a lifetime.
00:27:54.70\00:27:56.82