The Effects of Higher Cortisol Levels - A Two Part Saga

I thought about opening with a number of studies showing the impact of stress on the body.  But I'm sure you've all read something about it.  Stress affects every system in the body in some negative way, it can make your hair fall out, decrease your ability to fight off infections, and increase digestive distress.  Many of these effects are caused by increased levels of cortisol in the blood.  During this crazy-busy month, I've seen the impacts of stress in two ways, canker sores and tardiness, which I will illustrate below:

Part 1 - An Apology

I owe pretty much everyone I've seen in the past few weeks an apology for my smile.  I've spent the last two years fighting my introverted nature by acknowledging people I pass when I'm out and about.  Honestly, my default is to pretend I don't see people, or just give a small head nod.  It's not out of social anxiety or dislike of the people I see, I just prefer to be in my own bubble while I'm out on my constitutionals.  But that's a whole other story for another time (though see this delightful comic for a great illustration of introversion).  Turns out, my out-for-a-walk bubble is not an invisibility cloak and people can totally see me, so I've made  an effort lately to acknowledge people more (wearing my glasses and leaving the iPod behind so I can see and hear people sure helps in this effort).  This totally blew up in my face a few weeks ago because I've had a seriously heinous canker on the left side of my face that caused the following faces:

The not-enough-prep-time-and-it-hurts-to-smile-big Smile.  Note the effort to turn up the sides of my mouth while keeping the canker from contacting my teeth.  Awkward.  Given enough time, I can muster a real smile, but it requires careful preparation to ensure my canker doesn't rub on my teeth.    

The I'm-not-sure-I-recognize-you Smile.  Notice the eyebrows raised in the expectation of possible recognition.  There is some effort to make my mouth move in a smile, but it's not enough.  The more I look at this, the more I worry for the future. 

Ouch!  That's-the-canker! Smile.  This is caused by my canker rubbing against my teeth, and it hurts a lot!  Aargh.  Perhaps cankers are the reason pirates are characterized the way they are.  

To all of you who I made funny faces at during the Canker Episode, I am sorry.  The canker in my mouth prevented me from smiling, which lead to all the funny faces I made at you.  In the future, I will do better to keep my stress manageable and my face canker-free.  While I'm at it, I will also apologize to those of you I have ignored because I wasn't wearing my glasses, your face was blur and I did not recognize you.  But I still like you.

Part 2 - The Thing I Said I'd Never Do

The other part of being so busy/stressed it that I am always running late.  I care about showing up places on time, especially the bus stop, because the bus won't wait for me, and another won't show up for 15 minutes.  That has lead me run with my backpack on, which I always said I'd never do.  It looks silly, and I'm left huffing and puffing on the bus, which fogs up my glasses in this weather.  Here's my illustration of the forces at work to make running so difficult:

1) Forward motion of running impeded by uneven, icy surface that decreases the friction necessary for speedy movement.  2) Swinging backpack, only stabilized by pinning my elbows to the side.  3) Coffee motion (and terrible travel mug) that requires awkward extended arm, gliding run technique to prevent spilling (thus negating efforts in steps 1 and 2).  

4) Efforts to create a smooth run that keeps backpack and coffee from swinging too much looks silly.

I will try to avoid this awkwardness in the coming weeks, but I can't make any promises.  That extra 5 minutes I spend in bed every morning (which I could spend getting ready on time) are absolutely wonderful and I don't anticipate giving them up.