Positive Pooh

So I work on the North Slope of Alaska (a.k.a. the Slope, Prudhoe Bay, Dead Horse, Up North, ...the moon...) on a shift schedule. I work for three weeks and then I get three weeks off to spend as I please. Yep, it's a pretty sick gig but the slope (and Alaska in general) can be kind of a tough place to live. On the slope I live in a "camp" with about 20 individual bedrooms, a couple of  offices, a conference type room, kitchen (no "hot" food), and a 10' by 8' room with a treadmill. Now I do spend time in larger camps and working in operations cabs in the field but it's not exactly a "soothing" or "homey" environment.

As my time at home winded down a few weeks ago I started feeling a bit apprehensive and bummed. I had finally been realizing the positive influence of soothing activities and a positive attitude. I don't think these ever worked for me in the past because, well, I never really tried them before. Sure I thought positively sometimes and did things that I enjoyed but I saw absolutely no point in seeing something in any other light than "the one it was." I screwed up a lot and I sucked for that. I was a stressed and depressed person, and that sucked too. Being stressed and depressed made me screw up more which, was also, a sucky predicament. I figured that being chronically stressed was something that I just had to live with and somehow work to stop the side effects.

 I had been thinking about the effects of Serotonin and Dopamine on hunger fullness and eating and wrote down the following: "Why do dopamine and serotonin deficiencies lead to craving certain foods and loss of impulse control? What can I do about it!? For now I have to work where there will be very little to no sunlight or outside time. How do I get it otherwise? How do I deal with chronic stress!? Isn't it largely based on environment and reactions?" I learned that things like stress, depression, and stressful work can affect Serotonin and Dopamine levels which can then affect mood, impulse control, and hunger and fullness perception. Unfortunately, I felt almost insulted by this lesson. "I have to work, there's no sunlight where I live for half the year, I am expected to perform exceptionally, I live in a high strung society ..." I felt that I had been handed a sentence of failure and thought and thought about how I could work around the effects of the biology and chemistry of my brain.
 
The problem with trying to abate the negative effects of stress by attacking just the effects is that, well, it doesn't work. You can't change the effect without changing the cause. I realized that instead of asking myself what I couldn't do about a situation, I needed to ask myself what I could do. I looked at things that caused stress, depression, and swings in serotonin and dopamine and looked for ways to change those experiences. The lack of sunlight in Alaska during the winter seems to be especially hard on my mood, energy level, and sleep regulation. Well, I couldn't make the sun rise but I could go get a light therapy lamp (Happy Lamp). I could choose to leave my bedroom on the slope like it was...plain, uncomfortable, and "worky" feeling, or I could bring up my own sheets and quilt and put some pictures on the wall. No open flames in camp...well I'll just have to use a candle warmer to create my own peaceful getaway.

It's been amazing to see how much of a difference just these few things have made not only at work but also at home. There's not much that feels better than being at peace and it's cool how everything just kind of falls into place after that. It is so much easier dealing with our problems when we first choose to deal with what is inflaming them. My key is to pause, look at the situation objectively, and see if there is something that I can try.

In Benjamin Hoff's book The Tao of Pooh, Hoff uses the "Expedition to the North Pole" when Roo fell into the stream to describe some familiar personalities. "Who was going to rescue Roo? Panicky Piglet was jumping up and down and making noises. Ineffective Owl was instructing Roo to keep his head above water. Concerned Kanga was asking if he was all right. Captain Rabbit was calling out commands...But Positive Pooh was looking at the situation, seeing what he could do about it, and trying something."