[Mary Jo]

Hi Maryanne,

Love your thread. I love "discussions." And you know what...I typed a real good one and where did it go????? I think I clicked on "preview post" and never hit submit reply....so I'll type a shorter version of what I typed yesterday. LOL! I'm ready for bed now and the "talking" part of my brain is getting tired......ya right? Like that ever happens to me

I guess I just wanted to say that the stress we all carry is very real - whether we've had cancer - have cancer or never had it. Stress is a part of life and there really is no getting away from it. Now, how we handle that stress is a different story.

I, too, don't believe "stress" causes cancer per se but we all know that our immune systems are affected by stress and a million other things. Nutritionally it's important how we feed these bodies of ours..........physically it's important how we exercise these bodies of ours....and mentally it's important how we handle that which comes our way that is negative. Like Tricia said, "easier said than done"

For me personally, praying and asking God to take that which I really have no control over anyway away helps me. It helps me to know that all of us are on a journey and one day that journey here on earth will end. Whether we have cancer ... had cancer...... doesn't really matter. One day this earthly journey will end. Thinking on that helps me, believe it or not. It tells me that this earthly journey is not eternal but I will spend eternity somewhere so I put my energies into that. I walk often - listen to music - pray - and all these things calm me. I eat well and do all I can to take care of myself. I do that because it's just good for me overall. Possibly for some cancer prevention but also for my heart, blood pressure and a host of other things. Mentally, I feel better and stronger when I take good care of myself physically.

So there's my take on stress and how I deal with it. It's nice to hear how we all handle stress and how it affects us because it DOES affect us all. We can learn from each other here....and THAT is a good thing.

Love you guys....

Mary Jo

P.S. Did I say this was a shortened version?? Haha! Guess my brain woke up.