I am not a doctor and don't presume to know the exact answer to my question but I do have firsthand knowledge that stress can adversely affect your health and quality of life. After a series of stressful events a family member began getting severe constant migraine headaches that eventually stretched into one constant headache. The level of pain is the only thing that changes along with increased body and joint pain, nausea and chronic fatigue.

One year and 27 doctors later, visits to the ER, tests and more tests, no drug able to help, my conclusion is that although we will continue with the few doctors we have confidence in, the most helpful thing so far is stress reduction, healthy eating, sleep and exercise.

Conversing with others that have similar symptoms on www.mdjunction.com has been helpful. Some have gone the surgery route, others are still on the doctor and drug, circuit. My choice is to get on with life as best as is possible and try to avoid stress, negativity and toxic personalities.

Everything we experience in life, every choice we make directly affects us and indirectly affects others. In today's fast paced life I have found that the more I slow down, the better I pay attention to my health, the better I feel and the longer I will live.

After being in the workforce for over 30 years without a break other than a two week vacation I have found myself suddenly, unexpectedly unemployed. It takes a while to slow down, the last time I was laid off I went home and started making phone calls that same day and went back to work for a previous employer the following Monday. That was 15 years ago.

It has been seven months now I've been unemployed and I still use plenty of time each day searching for work, online mostly, and it is somewhat stressfull, economically speaking, being without a job but my health in general has improved as has my spirit.

I've always wanted to try meditation, it sounds smart and logical but I never could get to that point to get my mind to clear or I was too impatient for it to work for me. Now I have time to try blogging. I enjoy reading but it has been hard making time for it and working out or taking a long walk, getting plenty of sleep and not feeling guilty about it.

I rescued a stray dog that was nosing around my compost pile looking for food, she needed company so I went to the pound and brought home a companion for her. My dogs give me that unconditional love that far exceeds the extra work/stress they give me. Everyone should have at least one pet to love and care for.

Being unemployed is giving me more time in my life to concentrate on my health, fitness, peace of mind, getting enough sleep and not feeling guilty about any of it.  It is not until we are able to distance ourselves from our previous routines are we able to see how stressful a life we were living.  Too many people pour their whole lives and souls into their careers and can't see how it is affecting them.  Now that I am away from the hectic pace of the office I can look back and see how unimportant many situations were when at the time seemed life or death.  Working with a toxic personality who happens to be your boss can be the worst scenario.  Luckily I only had to cope with that for a short period of time.

My goal now is to continue to improve my health by keeping stress at bay as much as possible.  This will give me increased energy and a better frame of mind while searching for my new place in life earning a living while enjoying life, learning and growing along the way.