Thursday July 16

By now most people have heard that stress is very bad for them. There are countless anti-stress pills and potions from vitamin B-complex tablets, to zinc, biotin and folic acid on the market. And there is nothing wrong with any of these things especially where they are natural substances.

What I would like to get at today are some of the underlying reasons we have stress. Many of us are time-starved. We just don't have the time to do what is required of us in a relaxed easy going way. Add poor diet, inadequate sleep, demanding partners, and hyperactive children to the mix and you have the recipe for trouble. But there are still many people who manage all of the above and stay calm, cool and collected. What's the trick?

I believe the secret is not taking anything too seriously. If you do you'll invariably end up frustrated and frustration is a major stress builder. Frustrations appear when you lose your patience and your temper, ofter triggered when others don't see the obvious things that you do.

For example, for years I worked trying to rebuild the oyster population of Chesapeake Bay. Oysters filter water. I was part of a group of oyster farmers who grew oysters in the top waters of the Bay where the sunlight and algae is. Oysters can no longer survive on the bottom of Chesapeake Bay because there is 5 feet and more of partly decayed organic material on the bottom, where the oyster reefs should be by nature. The bottom sludge cannot decay any further because sunlight no longer penetrates the bottom habitat and there is no oxygen to promote decay.

50 years back the oyster population of Chesapeake Bay cleaned the entire water body every week or so. There were billions of them. Today there are fewer than 1% of the number needed to clean things up. The reason for the oyster's demise is largely overfishing by the Watermen. Overharvesting together with invasive practices like dragging and dredging.

The simple answer to this problem is to cultivate millions and billions of oysters in the top waters of the Bay until the top water gets clean enough for sunlight to penetrate the depths and finish the decay process needed to put things back like they were. The Japanese have cleaned up their waters with oysters. They made it a crime punishable with 20 years hard labour if a fishman is caught harvesting oysters from the natural reefs and they are now growing millions of bushels and billions of dollars worth of oysters and keeping their waters clean.

Did any of the "powers that be" around the Chesapeake Bay take a similar initiative? No! None! Other than the few small oyster farmers who comprise the Chesapeake Oyster Guild. The watermen have not been prohibited from harvesting oysters, and there are numerous government initiatives which continue to drop oysters to their death onto bottom reefs. Scientists, politicians, educators and watermen regularly meet to discuss how to fix a problem, the answer to which is staring them directly in the face. How frustrating is that to someone who knows the truth?

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said something that I have come to live by and know to be true:

"For that person who knows, no explanation is necessary,
and for that person who doesn't, none is possible."

This observation just may be the reason that Budhists believe that the greatest action is inaction.
Leave it alone and don't frustrate yourself trying to show people who refuse to see, the way. Better to relax and chill out and let them awaken to the light of understanding at their own speed....or not!

Be well!