The Trick To Dealing With Anxiety

In the 1999 film The Matrix, the last lines are the most memorable. While lengthy to write these lines here, what’s relevant to this particular piece is the notion of “where we go from there … is a choice I leave to you.”

The reason for this is because a recent study found that noise has been linked to weight gain, in particular “love handles”. This, although it's not recent, is one more thing to worry about. Figuring out how to manage this among the never ending list of things to do, prevent, manage and in this day and age, “fix” is a lot to take in. 

What I found to be the crux of this study, which has limited accuracy and efficacy, was that noise can disrupt an individual's sleep. With any study, it's important to know the population studied and the context of the study itself. When sleep is disrupted, it can make for a very not-so-nice person. Additionally, lack of sleep can also have effects on the individual’s ability to cope effectively with the pressures or demands that exist in his or her everyday experience, let alone any additional pressure or demand that are added.

The point is, when a person experiences the phenomenon referred to as stress, this increases the production of cortisol, a hormone that is released and has a role in bigger numbers. And I’m not talking salary here, think the scale as one aspect, according to this article. 

Relating to the ending lines of The Matrix and in my experience, when individuals realize how much “stress” really does affect their reality and impacts their experiences, it makes a huge difference when they're able to shift their perspective on the concept of stress, that the illusion of living in stress melts. Things change. Relaxation, fun or leisure begins to exist in their lives. 

There is less “stress” and more “not sweating the small stuff”. One small change can have profound effects. So, as Neo says in The Matrix, “where we go from (t)here … is a choice. I leave to you.”