An unemployed man applied for a janitor’s job at Microsoft. The manager there arranged for him to take an aptitude test under the section cleaning floors.

 After the test the managers says “Congratulations, you got the job. You will begin next week at minimum wage. Just give me your email address and I will send all of the forms we need for you to complete electronically.” The man replied, “I don’t have a computer or an email address”. The manager says “What! You have no email address? Then you virtually do not exist. I can’t hire you”.

 The man left Microsoft very disappointed and discouraged. He had only $10 left to his name and didn’t know what he was going to do. He was hungry though and decided to stop by the local supermarket. While he was there he got the idea of buying a flat of tomatoes to then sell for a profit. He thought it was probably a long shot but he might as well give it a try. Within 2 hours he sold the flat of tomatoes and made a 100% profit. Excited about this, he repeated the process several times. When he went to bed that night he had made $100! He began to think that he could possibly make a decent living at this.

Every morning and late into the night he sold tomatoes at a profit. First thing he knew he had to buy a cart for all of flats. His cart soon grew to pick up truck. Within two years he owned a fleet of trucks and had 100 employees working for him. He had become a tomato millionaire.

 He decided he should get life insurance for his wife and children. He contacted an insurance man and after their conversation the insurance man said just give me your email address and I will send you all the paper work over the net. The tomato millionaire replied, “I don’t have a computer or an email address”. “What!” says the insurance man. “No computer or email address? How could you have possibly acquired so much wealth without a computer?” He continued, “Just think where you would be today if you had the internet, email and e-commerce.” The tomatoes millionaire paused for a moment and replied, “Of course, I’d be a janitor at Microsoft!”

 We live in times today where technology has changed they way we communicate, live, and possibly think. The constant pinging of emails can be as annoying as a drip, drip, drip of a water facet. We are swimming with doodads and options, Blackberries and Blogs, Cell Phones, Search Engines & Wi-fi. These tools have made our lives easier and we have become smarter in many ways. But, are we overall better off? Not necessarily so! The excessive demands on our senses have created what scientist call “Cognitive Overload”, a state of constant distraction causing chronic stress. 

The National Consumer League states that 80% of Americans are stressed and 63% say their stress levels are rising. Over 50 million people in the US alone suffer from sleep and relaxation disorders. PEOPLE NEED TO CHILL OUT! We have become imbalanced. How do we avoid cognitive overload and bring more balance into our lives? I have two simple suggestions.

1. Spend time in Nature.

Dr. Felf in his book The Role of Horticulture in Human Well-Being and Social Development states that exposure to nature settings produces significant recovery from stress in physical measurements such as blood pressure and muscle tension. I can vouch for that!

 One of my very favorite things to do is to go hiking with my two over-grown labador retrivers, Eli & Bogart, at a nearby park . It is a great place to get in touch with nature. There are many different hiking trails for several miles that cover about 400 acres of beautiful dense forest. In the Spring there are tons of dogwood & if the sun hits them just right, it looks like a forest of twinkling white lights. In the summer it is dense with lush green foliage. In the fall, you are surrounded by brilliant reds, oranges & yellows. But honestly, although I love all of the seasons there, I think my favorite is winter. All of the leaves are off the trees & you can see for miles. It is wide open. This is when I take Eli & Bogart off their leashes and say “Run, boys…Run” and they run like the wind. It feels like total freedom!

 No matter how stressed I am, within five minutes of being in nature, I have not a care in the world. It quiets all the mind chatter and frees the Soul.

Spending time in nature isn’t always possible. But viewing nature scenes on your television or computer is and it has also proven to have great calming effects.

2. Listen to Soothing Music

My second suggestion is to simply listen to soothing music. Dr. Joel Robertson in his book, Natural Prozac states that listening to soothing music is a powerful tool to instantly change the chemistry in your brain with no negative side effects. He says, “If chosen correctly, it can be medicine for the mind and the soul.”

Twenty years ago scientists experimented with plants and the music of Bach. They found that his music caused the plants to grow faster and healthier, while the hard rock music had a negative effect on the plants. It stands to reason then that music also affects the human organism in ways that we may not realize.

The next time you feel your stress levels climbing, tune into soothing music and just see how quickly your mood changes! Add some deep breathing to that and I guarantee you will feel a whole lot better. I like to keep relaxing music playing in my office all day as I work. It helps keep me balanced.

We are bombarded with information and most of it negative at that and we are in Cognitive Overload. We must take measures to keep out lives balanced. Being in nature and listening to soothing music are two readily available and simple measures to create that balance.