For the Best You by Eric Lucas

FOR THE BEST YOU

Table of Contents

FOR THE BEST YOU

Introduction / Welcome to The Oxygen Plan!.................................................................. 3 Welcome to the Real You!.................................................................................................. 5 The Oxygen Plan: A Breath of Fresh Air in Four Simple Steps........................................ 5 What Are the Benefits of The Oxygen Plan?..................................................................... 7 The Best You/ Patt: Keeping the Faith.............................................................................. 9 How Do I Use The Oxygen Plan?..................................................................................... 11 How Do I Know Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Working?........................................................................................... 13 The Best You/ Lenny: A Diamond in the Rough............................................................. 15 Where Do I Use The Oxygen Plan?.................................................................................. 17 What Results Can I Gain From The Oxygen Plan........................................................... 19 Listen to Your Inner Shrink................................................................................................ 21 The New and Improved You............................................................................................. 23 The Best You/Mario: Real Men Say I Love You............................................................... 25 What is Stress and How Can It Harm Us?........................................................................ 27 Symptoms of Stress........................................................................................................... 29 How Stressed Am I?.......................................................................................................... 31 The Oxygen Plan in Action: You Can Do This!............................................................... 35 Stress in the Workplace: Corporate Application of The Oxygen Plan.......................... 38 The Best You/ Valli: Wording in the Green..................................................................... 39 Epilogue............................................................................................................................. 45

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Once upon a time, there was peace and calm, in sprawling fields of green stretching farther than the eye could see. The faint murmur of human beings, blissfully inhaling and exhaling, was carried on the gentle wind. The sweet chirping of little birds joyfully mimicked the refreshing activity of their human counterparts. Everyone loved their neighbors. Things happened when they should (deadlines---of any kind---had not yet been invented). Smiling people were patient and kind---just the way youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d expect them to be. No one had migraines or acid reflux disease. The skies rained money and there was no such thing as road rage...

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WELCOME TO THE OXYGEN PLAN! Welcome to The Oxygen Plan! Here’s the real deal. You know that life is not a fairy tale, so who are we kidding? There is, however, a method to our madness. The Oxygen Plan is a patentpending, 4-step, innovative and amazingly simple behavior modification program which guides you through an exploration of stress in your life and ways to handle it. It will show you how you can minimize and, in some cases, even eliminate stress, so you can focus more of your energy on living the amazingly complete and fulfilled life you know you deserve. Think of moments or times in your life when you felt like you were the best you. Everybody has best you moments. Was it a milestone at work? A happy family event? Did you meet someone really special who impacted your life in a positive and lasting way? What were you doing? Who were you with? Where were you? How did you feel? Happy? Energized? Were you centered and

comfortable with the people, places and things that are most meaningful in your life? What comes to mind? Remember those old, grainy home movies? The occasions may have been a family birthdays or cookouts or just Mom and Dad waving madly at the camera. In itself, these moments are not earth shattering, but sweetly simple. The people in them are natural and real and so are the warm, comfortable emotions associated with them. To you they are pieces of personal nostalgia and one-of-a-kind family history; perfect in their simplicity and ability to slow down your pace, tug at your heart strings and simply make you smile. That’s exactly what it feels like to be living a complete and fulfilled life; an oxygen - filled life! Our goal is to help you relive those uncluttered, unburdened best you times each and every day of your life by learning and applying the simple principles of The Oxygen Plan.

Ready to give it a try? Great! Lesson one. Breathe. How did that feel? (Not only did we get your attention, but just a tiny dose of oxygen begins to calm you down, right?) Breathe again. Isn’t this easier, already? You’ve just mastered the key to The Oxygen Plan and have become healthier by letting more refreshing, replenishing oxygen into your life!

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WELCOME TO THE REAL YOU!

For the first time, an easy, uncomplicated and lasting way to reduce stress in your life is here and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as simple as breathing! Were you stressed, thinking about your best you moments? For most of us, the answer is a resounding NO! Yet, it feels like stress is the antagonist that prevents you from being the person you really want to be all the time---the best you! Are you ready to learn how The Oxygen Plan can support your journey to becoming the best you, possible?!

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The Oxygen Plan:

A Breath of fresh air in four simple steps. Our mission is to help people simplify their lives by reducing stress, thus freeing them to be happier and healthier in the “green”, where life-

first and second steps of the plan (Inventory and Categorize), you will begin to see how the people, places and things you address, will begin to move in the directions of the three color classifications of green, yellow and red.

giving oxygen abounds. In four simple steps, The Oxygen Plan guides you through an exploration of stress in your life and ways to handle it. Stressful events are defined by the people, places and things with which you interact on a daily, frequent or periodic basis. ~ Mind Over Matter The Oxygen Plan is designed to help you “mentalize” your stress factors through a guided, 4-step program. The first step is to take inventory (identify) of your stress factors; second, to categorize or define their worth or intensity (positive, negative or somewhere in between); third, to develop your own personal set of responses or “life rules”, a set of new behaviors to combat or eliminate stress and fourth, to repeat and re-evaluate these positive actions in the future. The Oxygen Plan uses a simple “color-coded” method of recognizing, defining and dealing with stressful issues. Even as you approach the

Green experiences are the most healthy and easiest to deal with; yellow refers to those “iffy” stress situations that can possibly be dealt with at intervals or on a basis that makes you feel comfortable with minimal, undue stress; red encounters are the most harmful or unhealthiest and should be avoided or restructured in your plan in a way that does you the least amount of harm and causes as little stress as possible. The Oxygen Plan assists you in charting short and long-term goals and helps you track your progress in increments, not by overwhelming leaps and bounds. Like the lingering appearance and effects of stress, positive changes also evolve over time. Even the smallest change, for the better, can have a profound impact on your overall attitude, energy and well-being. ~ Why Oxygen? Because it saves lives. It is lifesupporting, regenerative and calming. When an EMT snaps an oxygen mask over the nose and face of an emergency victim, the effort either

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contributes to saving a life and/or to reducing the patient’s stress and anxiety. Losing control without backup actions or sets of behaviors over stress issues is right up there with a patient’s fear that he will die without the proven benefits of pure oxygen. The Oxygen Plan is the purest way to reduce stress and maximize you ! It is a life-preserver, a natural mask, a powerful enhancer of health and fulfillment. These factors, and so many others which contribute to our physical and psychological wellbeing, fortify and prepare us for the most amazing experience of our lives---being the best we can be! The Oxygen Plan helps you per-

sonalize new ways of dealing with stressful people, places and things to insure less wear and tear on your overall well-being. We call it living in the green--- where oxygen abounds--- in nature and in your decision making processes, as you learn how to temper your reactions to stress. ~ Inhale…Exhale… Think about how you feel when you walk through a park or go to the beach. A date with nature is a gift to yourself! Yes, there are some people who do like walking in the rain (they write Hallmark cards for a living) and planting flowers. The message here is that doing something outside, in the greater or familiar

outdoors, refreshes you physically and psychologically. The very fact that you are breathing in fresh, abundant oxygen in a natural setting, is a revitalizing change of pace. Fishing trips or evenings spent stoking a fire in a cabin in the woods gives us precious renewal time, away from the hum-drum or out-of-control frenetic activities of our daily lives. A day outdoors invigorates our senses; gives us a different frame of reference, if only for a few hours or minutes a day. We can return to our homes, offices or other leisure activities with fresh attitudes and outlooks. We can “store” the experience and return healthier, which for us at The Oxygen Plan, is greener.

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what are the benefits of the oxygen plan? H a pp i n e s s - Opt i m i s m - I n s p i r at i o n - E n e rgy Happiness ~ Perhaps, for the first time in your life, you will experience the freedom of simple happiness; unfettered by long-standing or unsolved stress issues you’ve known and harbored for years. A proverbial weight will be lifted! Here at The Oxygen Plan, happiness is participating fully in a green life by embracing a multi-faceted understanding of what being healthy--- physically, psychologically, socially and behaviorally---can do for us. For Charlie Brown (Charles Schulz’ beleaguered cartoon kid) happiness is two kinds of ice cream. For you, happiness will be found in the ways you master and apply your own stress management techniques to become the best you! Optimism ~ Optimism is about hope and strength and perseverance. One good action engenders the next good action and so on. Optimism is its own self-fulfilling prophecy! It is powerful and persuasive. It tells your brain that you can do great things---a flattering thought--- and totally true! You deserve it. You deserve to enjoy the freedom of physical and psychological “wellness”. Being optimistic about your success with The Oxygen Plan is the best

place to start. If you can envision the person you’ll be--- without all the undue stress that tires you and drains your energy---you are correct in being optimistic because the best you is just beyond the door to selfdiscovery. Inspiration ~ Inspiration comes from the realization and accomplishment of positive goals which keep us vital and alive. And the momentum is contagious. When you are inspired, you are motivated. One of the most significant things about The Oxygen Plan is that it allows you to inspire you! When we name someone who has inspired us, that person isn’t always famous and known by all. Inspiration can come from the most personal experiences and interactions in our lives, big or small. Inspiration is not about duplicating the feats of other people we admire. Inspiration brings us closer to our own finish lines, convincing ourselves every day that whatever we dream is possible and completely deserving of our best efforts. Energy ~ Energy can be applied to anything that exists, in a physical sense and in the creative recesses of our minds and spirits. When energy combines in our bodies and minds,

the resulting force is a beautiful and powerful thing. Endorphins, for example, are naturally secreted chemicals which are released into our neuro-muscular systems in times of stressful and/or exhilarating motor or psychological episodes. An “endorphin rush” describes the ensuing feelings of well-being . Dopamine is another naturally-secreted chemical that is commonly associated with the pleasure or “reward’ system of the brain, as it applies to motor activity, sleep patterns, mood, learning and more. Cortisol, popularly known as “the stress hormone”, is released in our bodies to boost blood pressure and blood sugar levels to counter physical or psychological stress. Whether we are long-distance runners, computer programmers, nurses, stunt drivers or stay-at-home moms---as humans, we have at our disposal many resources to bring out the best in us. When we are physically active, our brain perceives the stimulation as a positive energy boost. When our minds are clear and our thoughts are productive our psyches are primed to do the same thing--- like give uninvited stress the heave-ho!

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The Best You/Patt: Keeping the Faith Here’s how one caring person makes a big difference while reaping the benefits of her best you moments, everyday. Patt is far more than a people person. The retired history teacher, government program planner and photographer now works with Alzheimer patients who, under her gentle direction, carefully and consciously built the nursing facility’s first “space station”---a diningroom table- sized conglomeration constructed of large, soft foam and plastic pieces, which look like an adult version of Lego building blocks. “Not always, but often enough, there’s a window of recognition in their eyes and on their faces,” she says. “Their sense of curiosity and achievement is so wonderful, even if it is fleeting.” These are Patt’s “greenest” moments; the most telling examples of her best and happiest efforts. Her excitement and compassion are almost palpable when she experiences the split-second, “a-hah” knowledge of a mastered task, and the joy it produces in her activity cottage. “I just gave them sugges-

tions,” she says. “But they stuck with it and figured out how what pieces to use to balance and extend it.” For her, knowledge is truth. She is a born teacher and eager learner, always finding and explaining the miraculous “whys” and “hows” of just about everything she encounters, from repairing can openers to soothing an agitated patient. The world is her personal textbook, teaching lessons of renewed discovery, every day. It is her deep religious faith, however, that comprises the best part of who she is. God’s presence and His voice compel her to “do his work”. There is no hesitation in her response when asked to describe the best of who she is, at her core, or what “living in the green” means to her. Her faith is the unshakeable, secure beacon of her life; the steadfast compass of timeless inspiration, peace and happiness. She is at her happiest, her most fulfilled and most productive when she is engaged with every and any one of God’s creatures…especially golden retrievers. Her love of animals, breezy days at the beach and driving down country roads fill her with that unmistakable feeling of

peace and endless invincibility! The other vital piece of Patt’s life fulfillment is the deep friendship she shares with her best friend, Ida. Their minds, their intelligence and quick humor keep them in the good-natured girlfriend mode. They can be boisterous or quiet and pensive. Most of all, they are compatible, loyal friends who head for the green whenever they venture off, together. They’ve written chapters in the history of their relationship, there to be re-read, re-enacted, resavored over and over again. And the laughter….too much is never enough! The trust and security of this friendship exists in a superlative atmosphere, which for them, is the best of places and times. You know that feeling. We all know that amazing, personal place that consistently produces and welcomes the best you. What’s yours?

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how do i use the oxygen plan? It’s as simple as counting from 1 to 4 and seeing the world through 3 basic colors: green, yellow and red. The ultimate goal of The Oxygen Plan is to reduce and/or eliminate the amount of stress you experience in various aspects of your life. The components of the plan are designed to lead you to the discovery of your own, safe, stress management tools to control the amount of stress you tolerate in your life; how to define the events that bait you every time, and how to create lasting, less stressful options. People, places and things in your life influence good or bad stress. We use the phrase, “people, places and things” a lot in this book because they include almost all triggers of stress---and calm---in our lives. For example, good stress are generally things like weddings, the birth of a child, a noteworthy accomplishment or achievement, graduations, raises or promotions at work, birthdays, celebrations. While these events are fun and happy ones, they do not materia-

lize without some degree of stress. Weddings are happy occasions…if the in-laws get along. Having a child is a blessing…if it sleeps through the night. Graduating from college is a milestone in your life…if you can find a job later on. The Oxygen Plan consists of four easy pieces to guide you through the process of identifying your stressors, sorting them into manageable “slots” or tossing them out, completely; creating your own rule book”, with definitive behaviors you’ve adapted to deal with stressful events and, finally, learning how to repeat and maintain your healthy new behaviors. The Oxygen Plan assists you in charting short and long-term goals, simplifying your progress in increments, not by overwhelming leaps and bounds. In a nutshell, the four steps of The Oxygen Plan are:

of oxygen— good, healthy, energetic, happy, fulfilling experiences and decisions surrounding the people, places and things in your life. Oxygen is the source of life. Oxygen gives you energy. The more energy you have, the better able you are to reach your full physical and psychological potential; to be excited about your life, to be the best you. We call that “living in the green”. Yellow - Yellow signifies a loss or reduction of energy, vitality, productivity and happiness among your interactions with the people, places and things in your life, much like the effects of carbon dioxide, which drains or limits healthy progress. Red - Red is associated, symbolically, with danger and the presence of carbon monoxide, a lethal substance that can destroy life; or, for our purposes, “kill” one’s life force—all that makes us vital and strong, physically and emotionally.

Take Inventory ~ Identify and sort stressors by those you can manage and those you need to eliminate

Set Life Rules ~ Implement new behaviors/actions to deal with stress

Categorize ~ Visually flag stress by our color-coding system of green, yellow and red.

Repeat ~ Continue to employ, re-evaluate and modify new behaviors in your Life Action Plan.

Green - Green represents the best results associated with the presence

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how to know it’s working? The Oxygen Plan has developed free tools for you to use, as often as you like, to assess and update your progress. • The Oxygen Plan provides access

to a secure, automated, online Life Journal, linked to your private “My Oxygen Plan” page. • The Oxygen Plan offers our free

Self-Assessment Survey (a short stress test) which visually quantifies your levels of stress through our Stress-02-Meter. • Our companion e-Book, “For

the Best You”, is available for free download to share with friends, family and co-workers.

The best indicator, though, of how well you are doing will be the positive effects of less stress! Habits are hard things to break. New behaviors are often just as hard to implement, but very possible and very necessary to keep you happily planted in the green! Stay true to yourself and your new goals. You will be delighted by the changes you see in and around you.

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Lenny: a diamond in the rough This professional had the courage to do a complete “180” in his life to eliminate stress on the job. His special skills go with him, wherever and how-ever, he works, allowing him to live out his best you moments, all the time. Lenny is a world-class executive virtual assistant, an internet marketing specialist, a web designer--- and a Dad, extraordinaire. He will never forget the exact moment he decided to leave the stress of impersonalized, corporate cubicle world, behind. His realization came one day in a power-charged meeting of bank supervisors, bosses, staff and the hand-picked pawns, chosen to root for the right arguing team. The only thing missing was cheerleaders and pom poms. It was the last persuasive reminder--a firm, swift kick under the table--that signaled the end of Lenny’s career at the bank. There was no way he was going to report inaccurate figures or swear he had received and time-stamped a document he

never saw. After the meeting, Lenny was whisked away into the office of his direct supervisor, who gave him the “Fredo” speech. Now, you don’t have to be a fan of The Godfather films to know the seriousness of this warning. In the movie, Michael Corleone scolds his brother, Fredo, for blabbing to the wrong people. He tells him, in a steely whisper, “never- betray- the- family.” Fredo suffered an untimely demise, shortly thereafter. Something about a car explosion. A veritable tragedy. Accidents happen. Lenny actually laughed out loud at the allegory as he packed up his things, cleared his desk and trendy cubicle, and drove home---for the last time. Free of any unfortunate incendiary devices--- the worst of which is the greed of mortal man--Lenny became his own boss. His comfy, cozy cellar was remodeled to accommodate a home office. The skills he possesses are his and his alone, ready to serve for an eternity! He is a happier, peaceful, profitable business owner who now has more balanced time to spend with his little slugger, Nicky. Nicky is an avid little leaguer. When

he hits one out of the park—carefully avoiding the windshield of his father’s car ---Lenny takes a full deep breath, looks around him and mouths the words to his son on the field: life is good. We all have the ability to make choices. The best ones are those that benefit us emotionally, spiritually, physically. Lenny has been known to recount the “Fredo” incident at cookouts, to new clients, even to Nicky. Not only has he created a more fulfilling lifestyle, but he has also deepened his strong sense of self-reliance and lasting respect. His green just keeps getting greener. Do the rigors or sameness of your job make you tired, physically and mentally? Do you decline social events because you take your job stress home with you? Can you change your pacing at work or prioritize your tasks, differently? Have you considered reassessing your skills and possibly changing jobs? You may be surprised to discover new talents and new passion for something you truly enjoy doing.

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where do i use the oxygen plan?

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Anywhere! The Oxygen Plan is conveniently â&#x20AC;&#x153;portableâ&#x20AC;?---especially if you commit it to memory! It is designed for use at home, at work, on your lunch hour, on vacation; alone, with friends, family, co-workers. The possibilities are endless! The Oxygen Plan is a personalize - able program which can be used anywhere, anytime, by anyone, at any hour of any day, of any week, month or year on any galaxy!

You are in control of the location and the decisions involved in using The Oxygen Plan. There are no meetings to attend (or miss); the program is ready when you are to proceed through its steps and resources, at your own comfortable pace. Remember, the whole idea here, is to reduce stress! Only you will decide how and when to become the long-awaited, best you!

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what results can i gain from the oxygen plan? ~ Stress Management That Works …Significantly reduced or eliminated stress is the most realistic prediction of this superior behavior modification program, designed for long-term benefit and continuous life improvement. Our interactions with people, places and things on a daily, frequent or periodic basis bother us because there is conflict in the way we perceive the interaction. Poorly managed or unmanaged stress can diminish your ability to see yourself in the truest, most positive light and can prevent you from being the best you. If you are one of the many who are stuck in a stress-managing rut that always causes an unpleasant, or unsatisfying end, the principles of The Oxygen Plan may save your life. ~ A Shiny, New You Venturing away from “the usual”; trusting the strength of the feedback the world is giving us; human curiosity and any number of other factors which influence our perceptions, also influence our actions and behaviors.

Being open to the prospect of implementing behavioral and psychological changes (that’s fancy for what we do and what we think), will produce a personal “cache” or collection of new, less stressful responses to things that have consistently triggered negative reactions. This process produces your life plan. We know who we are, we are balanced in our own comfort zones and we know what upsets us. We also know what makes us happy, welladjusted and even-keeled. We all have our own standards of behavior and beliefs, methods of problem solving, varying degrees to which we care--- or don’t--- about any given issue, life priorities and a host of other psycho-social factors---all of which make us who we are. Isn’t it amazing that the truest philosophies are, generally, not the most profound? Like, “the best things in life are free”? Breathing in oxygen, itself is uncomplicated and---no pun intended---stress free. That’s why The Oxygen Plan is simple to use and easy to navigate. The most positive outcome configures a happier, healthier, more energized, more productive, more fulfilled you.

~ A Life Make- Over If you were asked to describe your best qualities---seriously---you’d probably end up with some pretty surprising answers. Your descriptions would most likely include a candid assessment of the valuable person you are. Yet, as uncomfortable and unnerving as they are, we become familiar and accepting of our stress patterns. Seriously thinking about changing how you perceive and react to stress is a new piece of the equation and involves more concentrated, committed thought and action. You know what you’ve got, but you don’t know (or trust) what may be on the other side of the door. The news is that your old methods of dealing with stress are not working if you come away feeling like a piece of Swiss cheese--- sliced to the quick with more holes than solid ground! You certainly deserve the relief from stress that can be achieved through the principles of The Oxygen Plan. What have you got to lose? (Hint: S-T-R-E-S-S.)

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listen to your inner shrink. Sometimes, we listen (and most times, we don’t) to that little voice inside us, or wince at that imaginary leg kicking us under the table, urging us to pay attention to problematical “red flags” in our daily lives. How do you feel when you hear yourself saying, “I should have listened to my gut”? ~ Happiness is Two Kinds of Ice Cream When you go into an ice cream shop and know you like chocolate ice cream but you order vanilla instead, your change of mind is not going to plague you for a week. But, suppose the person behind the counter is on an increasingly persis-

tent mission to sell you the newest flavor, “Stressin’ Strawberry”. This effort might make points with a boss; but it is really beginning to annoy you…especially if this person is perky, beyond belief. ~ Customizing “Plan of Attack” What is it about this scenario that starts your stress levels climbing? It’s really quite simple. Your control, even in a benign situation such as this, is being threatened or denied. If you came into the place to buy chocolate ice cream, you should leave with chocolate ice cream! You may have been mildly entertained by the offer of a new flavor, but be-

came reasonably impatient with the relentless sales approach. What are your options? Depending on what kind of day you’ve had, how you might generally react in similar circumstances, what your expectations are for the outcome of this experience and how much of these factors have been compromised by the perky ice cream server, you might: • Try the new flavor…but suggest they rename it • Politely stand firm and get your chocolate ice cream • Leave without any ice cream, at all --- but not without telling Perky how you feel about being railroaded, sidetracked, smiled on and, most of all, being made to feel un-

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valued as a customer, as you stomp out of the place without the peace of mind and thing you wanted most. The best-laid plans of a chocolateice-cream lover have been foiled, again, leaving you with an overwhelming sense of frustration that THEY have won. They have trespassed on your attempt to have things happen the way you predicted.

ors in your life and create new behaviors in dealing with them, it does not suggest that you create your own little cloistered Utopia. As inviting as that may sound, no one lives in a sealed vacuum. It’s impossible and unrealistic. And, if we did, we’d probably experience incredible stress because we’d be confined, exclusively, to bliss. Think about that one. ~ To Be or Not To Be… Nice

Unexpected, stress-morphing experiences can throw us. Yet, they are a fact of life. It is how you choose to handle them that will lessen the effects and keep your emotional wearand- tear to a minimum. While the premise of The Oxygen Plan is to help you recognize stress-

We don’t want to be thought of as a bad or crazy person. We want to be nice. We don’t’ want to scare little children. We want to keep our jobs. We don’t want to give the other person the satisfaction of knowing how much they have angered or

upset us. We want everything and everyone to just go away! We just want to have control over life occurrences and maintain the status quo. Human beings gravitate toward pleasure and avoid pain. That’s a fact. The way we react to and perceive everyday situations, however, varies from person to person. What may be stressful for one, may not faze the next person, at all, or vice-versa. The ways in which people handle or react to stressful events is automatic for most, usually with predictable outcomes. Isn’t it time to break the cycle?

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THE NEW AND IMPROVED YOU Just envision the new and improved you; a confident, happier, truer you! Imagine you, in the secure place you’ve created. Imagine you in your very green and oxygenated environment, accentuating positive choices each day in a place where you’ll never have to say “I should have” again; where you can have as much chocolate ice cream as you like; where little children will not run from you, but most of all, where you can live peacefully in the knowledge of who you are! And, here’s an extra bonus. A simple rule of thumb in reducing stress is to accept the things you cannot change--don’t spend time trying to analyze them and find a new way to live around or without them. You can only change yourself, not someone else. Doesn’t that sound easier? Imagine tossing the same stressful situations out, for good! Welcome the challenge of choosing new and exciting options. We live in a busy, hurried world where stress is often the one predictable thing that interrupts our pace. Create new directions. Take the scenic route home, literally and figuratively. Circumvent the hoards of people caught up in the daily onslaught; head ‘em off at the pass! Stress loses. You win!

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Mario: Real Men Say I Love You The man’s sense of security underscores every one of his best you moments. Mario needs and loves to be needed. He is a natural and kind giver; a loving and supportive husband and father and very connected to family. When Mario walks into a room, ready to lend an ear or a strong arm, people just feel better. It is definitely their good fortune to know him. He is employed by the state to process lottery tickets---and no, he doesn’t know the winning numbers! When he is in his kitchen, though, the air literally sings an aria to his praise. From salad to roast prime rib---and generous helpings of pasta with his homemade sauce---Mario prepares every morsel with love and care for those who will feast on his food and easy hospitality. His culinary skills are amazing. The best gift of all, however, is that Mario’s meals say, “I love you.” The dinner table---or more importantly, the people who surround it,

could be extras out of any memorable movie about Italians. The real quality here is that they are not actors; they are as real as your own family, with their own familiar and endearing human traits. If a cinematographer were to direct a camera man to pull back and capture the entire scene in one frame, what we’d see---and understand---is that timeless coming together of people who care about and love each other, a rarity in a world that often spins too fast. It is a moment to be captured and savored; a place of laughter and emotional sustenance; the kind we long for. Mario’s dinner table is a destination, in itself, where robust, vitaminpacked vegetables, sautéed in garlic and olive oil, are only the beginning of this very green experience. Like his magnanimous and genuine personality, food keeps coming out of his busy kitchen, non-stop. The best part of these gatherings, is leaving. That’s right. No one, in the world, can scoop you up in his arms for a warm, soul massaging hug, like

Mario. His embrace is all the protection you’ll ever need. Who are your Green people that love and nourish your soul; your well-being to their core? Do you spend as much time with them as you would like? Why not? Are your reasons really more important than your time with them?

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What is Stress and How Can it Harm Us? Stress signals an overload or derailment of our emotional, psychological and physical health and wellbeing, as evidenced by behavioral changes. Slowly…it…turns. Stress is insidious; sneaky. It can go undetected for a long time but, in most cases, it eventually finds a home in your personal history of experiences, events and relationships, and puts down solid roots. Very gradually, the effects of longtime stress will rear their ugly heads in psychological and/or physical manifestations. You know how it feels even if you can’t define it the minute it happens. Things just don’t feel right. Somewhere along the line---in a conversation or an encounter with someone or something --- issues escalate or resound like an alarm in

your head and that dreaded feeling of losing control spreads through every part of your body and brain, like an uncontainable flood. At that moment, you’d give everything you own for a life preserver as big as the ring around Saturn. Like this situation, which has suddenly spun out of control, so might your ability to choose a way of dealing with what the event has produced in you or you feel as if you’ve lost more control by doing nothing. Sometimes, you can let disturbing feelings pass…even though they have claimed a space in your physical or emotional memory. And, sometimes --- on a scale of 1 to 10--your reaction to stress can top the charts at a whopping 11! Stress is not just a word used to

explain away occasional eruptions in mood and physical well-being. It is alarmingly real and potentially dangerous. Too much stress over long periods of time can culminate in explosive expressions of anger or gut-wrenching depression or serious physical conditions. Yet, the effects of stress hibernate because we let them until they wake us up. Remember, silence can be deafening. What we don’t know or acknowledge can, indeed, harm us. We tell ourselves things will calm down or blow over. Many of us deal with stress this way. In doing so, however, we hold on to and repeat our patterns of not dealing with stress, at all, or not very well.

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Symptoms of Stress

We all know when we don’t feel well. We also know that we can usually track down the reasons or causes of our illnesses on blah days. “Bad Chinese food” is a pretty self explanatory diagnosis. So is dropping a steel safe on your foot or eating a pound of improperly marked “non-hive-producing” strawberries. Stress-related ailments aren’t as easy to pin down. They can manifest themselves in seemingly unexpected physical or psychological ways, such as: • blinding headaches • recurring stomach disorders • chronic back and joint pain • rashes and skin break outs • muscle spasms • hair loss • unpredictable mood swings • sleeplessness or disturbed sleep hyperactivity • episodes of crying or raging anger • changes in appetite and bodily appearance; a marked increase or decrease in weight • changes in sex drive • general fatigue and listlessness --…and probably hundreds more that medical science does or does not know about! Taking certain measures to ease our stress, however, can sometimes cre-

ate disturbing, habitual problems. A large percentage of us engage in forms of unhealthy behaviors in response to stress, which sabotage our natural inclinations to relax or divert our attention to something easier to absorb or comprehend. Unfortunately, these diversions often include overeating, unhealthy eating, drinking alcohol, smoking, zoning out in front of the TV…or the internet….or playing video games. Over the course of time, steady, prolonged stress can and does kill. Stress is also linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments and cirrhosis of the liver; accidents, and sadly, suicide. Seventy-five to ninety percent of visits to doctors’ offices and health care facilities are for stressrelated ailments and complaints. We’re all going to leave this earth one day so imprint your style in a memorable way. Chalk up your demise to something really different and memorable. Stress is so overdone. How about dying from terminal laughter? Fatal grinning? Giggle poisoning?

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How Stressed Am I? ~ Assess Your Stress To help you understand your stress levels The Oxygen Plan has engineered a ridiculously simple method of quantifying these factors with our free, online Self-Assessment Survey and our nifty Stress-02-Meter. This is, essentially, an “oxygen test”, to determine how much of your current stress is preventing you from giving and getting enough oxygenrelated experiences to counter the effects of too much stress. These tools will also help you determine if your stress levels wash over into multiple areas of your life, or are generally confined to just one or two areas. The results can also suggest the presence of any physical and/or psychological effects of stress. You know, for sure, that things, in general---and a group of them in varying combinations and degrees--will consistently stress you out. It’s very common to let stress in one area of our lives affect other or all areas of our lives. Stress at home between partners, parents, issues over children or finances, lifestyle decisions--and hundreds more---often ends up coming to work with us or casts gloom over our social lives. According to most studies, the workplace is the number one source of stress. It’s easy to say, “don’t bring it home with you”, but hard to do, for most of us.

Stress factors are based on the reaction of people engaged in any given situation. What may be deemed stressful to one individual may be perceived quite differently by another. The Self-Assessment Survey prompts you to consider all the people, places and things you encounter on a regular or periodic basis, that are related to stressful events. Through a series of specific questions, focusing on three major areas of our lives---home, work and social interactions--- you will have the opportunity to take a candid, in-depth look at your most important and vital relationships and activities; when and where they occur and how they impact your life. This little trip down memory lane will permit you to closely explore the people, places, things, events and behaviors that have influenced you, in positive or negative ways. Remember, there are no “wrong” answers! The results will be measured on our Stress-02-Meter and will let you see stress factors and levels, in action, to symbolically ascertain how much lifeenergizing oxygen we give or get in our daily activities. It will visually display the occurrences of oxygen-rich experiences in your life (green), as well as those associated with energydraining carbon dioxide (yellow) and life-stifling carbon monoxide (red).

This information will be presented to you in clear, understandable language and colorful graphics (that look something like a Super Heroes tri-flavored Popsicle) just like the sample below. For many of us, having an actual number or percentage as a starting point in calculating the amount of stress we experience, is a good thing. The Self Assessment Survey easily fulfills the task of gauging your stress levels. How can we attempt to make positive changes if we don’t know where or how to begin? This simple exercise will empower you with guidelines for giving and getting maximum benefits from healthy, oxygen-related experiences, which will, ultimately, lower your stress levels and reshape positive behaviors. Reduced stress can also contribute positively to lowering blood pressure and high sugar numbers, too. It is presented here as an invaluable, free tool, to provide more selfknowledge for you. It takes less than 6 minutes, on average, to complete. C’mon! You’re worth it!

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17 The Oxygen Plan in Action: You Can Do This!

FOR THE BEST YOU

Step 1: Take Inventory: What’s On Your Life Shelf? The thought of taking inventory---of anything---is usually met with a chorus of groans. So, consider this interesting, old saying and let’s apply it to the first step of The Oxygen Plan: “You can’t hit a target you can’t see”. Your “target” is to identify the tons of old behaviors you have always used to deal with stress and the people, places and things surrounding it. Taking a Life Inventory of these old actions gives you more “room” to see which ones still apply and which you can toss out. If you really think about it, when the task is done, the sense of relief and accomplishment is so empowering! The first and most obvious feeling, of course, is that the inventory process is mercifully over! You’ve gotten through it and emerged victorious! Don’t you feel better when a job you have been dreading or has been put on a back burner, is finally completed, to your satisfaction? The freedom of exhaling a sigh of relief is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of personal benefit. After an inventory has been completed and its specific results are noted, you will be able to refer to your Oxygen Journal and the findings of your Self-Assessment Survey as a reliable database of actions to use in the future. Imagine what valuable, useful things you’ll discover. Some obvious stressors immediately

come to mind, right? That’s normal for all of us. We’ve all got ‘em! There are top-shelf triggers for everyone. Common examples could include your interactions with your boss; your wife, your husband and children; exspouses, in-laws; parents, landlords, bankers, doctors, religious figures; local government or community figures….and many more, depending on who you are and what you do, on a daily and/or periodic basis.

pily surprised at how rewarding and uncomplicated this process will be.

We all collect tremendous amounts of all sorts of things and experiences during our lifetimes. (Frankly, we’d be very surprised to meet someone who has an immaculately clean closet, an airy attic, a pristine cellar or no prior stress history! The thought is actually a little creepy.) This may be a stretch for some people, but the process of taking inventory can almost be (dare we say it?) fun!

Imagine sitting in the middle of a spacious room of related or unrelated objects. As you look over them, you can already envision a use or a place to conveniently store them so that you will have easy access to these items in the future.

The bottom line is that once you have taken stock of your most frequently repeated stressors and perceptions and behaviors that you’ve traditionally used to handle them, the more confident you will become in making the kinds of decisions that will free you from holding on to useless, obsolete things of the past. Take a deep breath of energizing, refreshing oxygen, for that one! Taking stock of ideas or emotional reactions to stress is, of course, not as easy or immediately obvious as clearing cobwebs out of an old attic, but necessary to set a standard for your participation in The Oxygen Plan. We think that you will be hap-

Taking your Life Inventory requires some serious, committed concentration to give clarity to the process and value to the new “tools” you’ll unearth. Now that you’ve cleared your playing field, you can more distinctly see the sizes, shapes and colors of what presently exist in your collection. Ah, the clarity of it all!

Remember how the top drawer of your desk at work looks after all the old elastic bands and push pins are gone? Hey! There’s that tiny screwdriver you use to tighten your eyeglasses! How many times have you looked for it, but couldn’t find it? Now, you can keep your fingers on the keyboard instead of using them to push your glasses back up onto the bridge of your nose. That’s progress! The Oxygen Plan uses the same “sorting” premise in its second step, the Category phase. In it, you will personalize your stress factors by rethinking how they affect you and by redefining ways to deal with them.

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Step 2: CATEGORIZE: Color Your World Congratulations! You’ve taken inventory of what stressors and behaviors to keep in your life and what to get rid of! ‘Kind of feels like finding buried treasure, literally, doesn’t it? Or, dropping twenty pounds! In this second step of The Oxygen Plan, you will learn how to categorize or define the worth or intensity (both positive and negative) of stressful people, places and things in your life. This is done by simply breaking down the kinds and levels of stress you experience, using a measuring system of color. Green signifies the best you at home, at work and in social interactions. “Living in the green” is living in an invigorated atmosphere of getting and giving life replenishing oxygen. That place---in actuality and/or in the creative chambers of your mind--- contains whatever fulfills you; enthralls and de-stresses you, empowers your physical and psychological feats; comprises your private nirvana or launching pad! It exists in all that makes you strong, vital, healthy and productive--- all of which contributes to keeping you at optimum levels. ~ Green are your most healthy, least stressful, oxygen rich experiences. Being in the green lets you be the best you!

~ Yellow are “iffy” stress issues, which drain healthy energy whether they are tolerated at comfortable intervals, dealt with comfortably with minimal stress or eliminated completely, if possible. Choosing how and when to deal with them keeps you on track to becoming and enjoying the best you. ~ Red signifies “deadly” stress issues; these are the most destructive, the most unhealthy and are usually instantly recognizable. The facilitated use of just three colors will have tremendous benefit for you, as you become familiar with categorizing the people, places and things in your life in terms of the definitions---and explanations--- we’ve supplied, above. (You don’t need the jumbo pack of crayons, after all. Your life has become simpler, already.)

PeoPle You’ll have an opportunity to “categorize” and seriously consider those people who have had the greatest influence or impact on your life… and why. For example, memories and experiences from childhood can imprint themselves on our adult personalities, our perspectives, our judgments and can remain with us for years. Let’s say that positive or negative associations you’ve had with your former teachers, for example, may have an effect on how you interact with your children’s teachers, today. Behaviors formed at crucial junctures of our lives are often the first tools we reach for in familiar areas of stress or enjoyment. Those reactions may not be confined to just teachers, but, perhaps to authority figures or persons in leadership roles because of the feelings of happiness or pressure they may have produced in you at a particular time in your life. Did those experiences cause you to admire or respect people in certain professions? Some, but not all? One? Why or why not? How do your interactions unfold, today, with people in similar positions?

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mousse for dessert at a certain restaurant, because it’s what you had on your first date with your partner? What are you thinking when the waitress serves it to you? Are you smiling, now? On the other hand…

P LACES Physical places or locations hold special or memorable associations; again, both good and not so good. Here’s your chance to recall and rethink your personal attachments to certain places and categorize their characteristics. If the memory or experience of a certain place evokes familiar feelings and associations each time you revisit the location or even think about it, these are important places to color-code! For instance…

Do you feel anxious when you take a particular exit off the highway, because you had a fender bender at this location? Are you thinking about how the incident happened? Do you grab the steering wheel more tightly? Or, do you take a deep breath and just drive carefully, for good measure? When you cash your check each week, do you think about the teller at the bank that always pronounces your name wrong? Do you relive this event before you even get to the bank? Do you repeat the way she says it, to yourself? Does it make you short-tempered? Or, do you simply laugh at her inability to correct the mistake?

Do you always show up late for dinner at your sister’s house because, the one time you showed up early to help her prepare, you ended up cooking the whole meal? You arrived early, on that fateful evening, to find her in a paralyzing tizzy. Your loving sibling was never good at prioritizing now, was she? In most homes, dessert comes last and things like meat and potatoes and vegetables come first. There she stood, wailing in the middle of her $10,000 stainless steel kitchen over another unsuccessful attempt to hold back the hands of time. The preparation and serving of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, mixing individual drinks, roasting the main entrée, tweaking side dishes, tossing a salad and praying to God that the homemade lemon sherbet in the freezer was solid enough to eat with a spoon and not sipped through a straw, had sent her over the edge.

Do you like taking the long way home from work because you’ll pass the park and see kids ice skating? You learned to ice skate there---on your first pair of skates---remember? What stories do you still tell about your first skating lesson?

With all the diplomacy you could possibly muster, you gently told her that Julia Child, she ain’t and there have to be easier ways to entertain dinner guests. Not inviting them into her home and suggest they meet at a restaurant, was your first thought. Actually, it was a plea.

Do you like to order chocolate

So, as you rolled up your sleeves

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and attacked the task of salvaging a decent meal, each pulsation of the enormous headache brewing between your temples, reminded you that your sister’s dinner parties are a stressful place for you to be. Our common reactions, when familiar stressors attack us, are to automatically reach for the safety of old behaviors, even if it means diminishing the enjoyment of new outcomes. On the other hand… places that hold lovely, pleasant memories, keep us happy, content and even-keeled. Think back to the first time your partner said, “I love you.” Where were you and how did you feel when the words were spoken out loud? It may have been announced on a lazy Sunday morning, as you shared sections of The New York Times, or it may have been in a vintage comic book store. Whatever your personal scenario is, it belongs to you alone and so do the feelings surrounding the memory. Places that have the best positive memories do not have to be confined to a photo album or a fairy-tale reverie. They can be lovingly stored and categorized in your mind, ready and eager to serve when stress occurs. Handy little trick, huh?

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an example belong in your category of “things”? Responses to these examples will, of course, differ according to each individual’s life experiences. The purpose of securing and categorizing this information is to assess which experiences add to or diminish your stress levels.

T HINGS “Things” such as actual events, emotional reactions and behaviors, or tangible items that you can experience through the five senses---by touching, smelling, seeing, hearing and tasting---provide markers in our lives, both positive and negative. Suppose you’re out shopping and someone who passes you is wearing the same perfume that your mother used to wear. A flood of emotions wash over you. Scientists say that when our sense of smell is stimulated, our brain’s memory of the event or our “sense memory”, allows us to relive the tiniest details of our association with that particular scent. Would you smile nostalgically as you continue to look through racks of clothing or do you mentally freeze and briskly walk away from the perfumed lady and your task at hand? How does this situation affect the rest of your day? Where would such

The Oxygen Journal: Write it Down! Don’t trust spontaneity or a brilliant insight to memory! If you want to remember something important, write it down! We’re not talking about putting little sticky papers on every inch of your desk or refrigerator. Instead, we offer a free, automatically formatted, online Oxygen Journal on the “My Oxygen Plan” page, to track the details of your progress as you move through each step of the plan. In it you may record your observations, feelings, emotions, daily events, details of your own applications of the steps of the program --- anything you feel is relevant to your success. Once again, there are no right or wrong entries!

Journaling is the practice of keeping a diary of thoughts and feelings surrounding the events of one’s life. As such, it is an invaluable stress management and self-exploration tool to capture experiences that make you, you. We highly recommend that you make entries in your Oxygen Journal on a daily basis or as frequently as possible to create the kind of ongoing discipline and attention necessary to succeed in a behavior modification program. By regularly recording events, you can visually flag or isolate daily stress factors from those that occur all the time or once in a while. Sometimes, the nature and frequency of recorded entries may even help us to solve our own problem or issues. If we are able to detect stressful patterns, we are that closer to reducing them. Some common tips in journaling include setting aside time, on a consistent basis, to write about your thoughts, feelings and emotions, keep it private but, most of all, just write. Don’t be concerned about grammar or spelling. Whether or not the next great American novel emerges, just write!

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Step 3: Set Life Rules: Your Personal “Instruction Manual” This step of The Oxygen Plan, Setting Life Rules, is one of the most important tasks of the program.

the kinds of responsibilities we’ve had and a host of other factors, particular to each of us.

Now that you’ve learned how to solidly determine what your stressors are and where they belong in your color scheme, setting your own life rules will produce your own personal “database” of behaviors; a file of personal responses in times of stress; an instruction manual from and for you, the original “manufacturer”!

Rules establish order and structure. The best part, here, is that you get to make those rules. What makes sense and what produces the greatest benefits for you will become your mantra in creating a real living, breathing system that is totally yours.

Your accomplishments in identifying, categorizing and now--- specifically forming your rules and behaviors---will result in a file of personal choices. If stressful events occur, you can call up a designated behavior/action to foil any harmful effects. We think of life rules as a roadmap, plotted to show you the way to your successful, less stressed destination. Rules are made up of our internal beliefs and goals, gleaned from our life experiences; our upbringing; challenges and triumphs we’ve faced, personally or professionally;

The colors of The Oxygen Plan aid you in setting rules, because the visual association is so immediate and identifiable in reducing or changing “yellow” experiences to manageable ones; eliminating the “red” ones and promoting a plethora of “green” in your life. Setting rules is the method that puts you in full and conscious control of the actions you will generate in those situations which have and may still continue to bother you. Please give great thought to this task while, at the same time, recognize that rules are sensitive to change, modification and re-evalu-

ation---which comes in handy when you implement your plans of action and periodically review and reassess the results. Work this part of the program as often as you see fit, to make it feel right for you. The Oxygen Plan is based on the concept of continuous life improvement. Its steps are flexible and designed to adapt to your needs and your personal time line as you make progress. It is meant to grow with you. You might find that changing even one, small nuance of a behavior will make a huge difference in how you proceed in the future. Even the slightest alteration in your thinking, your observations and your actions can be a valuable tool at the heart of your success.

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Step 4: REPEAT: LIVING IT As you enter the fourth and final step of The Oxygen Plan---Repeat--you’ve gained a degree of proficiency in reducing your personal stressrelated issues. You’ve worked hard and diligently at finding, classifying, recording and developing green behaviors and arrived at a collection of behaviors and new mindsets that you have distinctly coined as your own. Good job! It’s great feeling less encumbered by potentially stressful situations and your relationship to them, isn’t it? Think of where you were and where you are now. It’s like learning a new language. And, although you may not feel one-hundred-percent fluent in it, you shouldn’t resist the impulse to give it a try as soon as possible! How rewarded you’ll feel when your words are completely understood in the new destination you’ve discovered. Have you ever played the same CD over and over and over again…

just because you wanted to? The enjoyment and pleasure you got the very first time you heard it, can be repeated anytime and as often as you like, now that you’ve made it a staple of your musical library. That CD is happy and secure, living among the others you love, so much! When a particular mood strikes you or when you want to relax and lose yourself in the moment or when you want to erase parts of a hard day at work, just reach for that sublime tool to buoy you up or calm you down. Your collection of musical remedies, and how you use them, can be compared to how you will expand the Repeat step of The Oxygen Plan. The more often you employ and reevaluate the steps of the plan, the more comfortable you will become in finding and using your methods of reducing stress in all aspects of your life---from home, to work to social interactions.

Imagine the freedom you’ll experience when you set a deadline for a project and your staff actually delivers it on time! Or, your kids come to the dinner table when you call them. Or, you get chocolate ice cream, without any questions or attempts at diversion! The first couple of times you manage potentially stressful scenarios, differently, the better it will feel. And, although you can’t change others, your changes will affect the way people now see you. If your outcome is positive and productive, chances are that others have observed it and have come to understand it, too. You are in control! You decide when, where and how loud to play your life CD! Your expertise, in implementing the new ways you’ve learned to manage and eliminate stress, is a precious gift from you--to the best you.

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stresS IN THE WORKPLACE: Corporate Application of The Oxygen Plan

18 Increasingly expanding workloads, looming deadlines, big and little bosses, co-workers inundated by emails that everyone wanted an answer to yesterday, the- same- oldsame- old snack machine, the outof-order snack machine, communal restrooms, ancient office supplies, the joke they call office space…does any---or all--- of this sound familiar? There is no better location in which to introduce The Oxygen Plan than in the workplace--- the number one source of stress. • From

the legions of nine-to-five inhabitants of cubicles across the country--- and the world--- to the steady, support of the trusty 3rd shift that works on the line---the common denominator for all is the existence and proliferation of stress! • States and cities and towns and industries and job titles may vary, but the one familiar denizen --- for CEOs to the night shift cleaning crew---is the threat and danger of ongoing stress.

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experience stress and anxiety over job-related issues; 73% over money concerns, 66% over workloads and (1) in (4) people claim to have missed work because of stress associated ailments. • Seventy-five to ninety-percent of patient visits to health providers are for stress-related ailments and medical complaints. • Annual “stress costs” to management have been calculated and examined with astounding results. One study, based on a population of 20,000 employees, reports that group health costs related to stress alone can average around $20 million per year; add in costs related to absenteeism, decreased productivity, worker’s compensation claims, disability and more, and a business may be looking at employee-associated expenditures in the vicinity of $97 million or more annually. Is it any wonder, then, that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has declared stress a hazard of the workplace?

on the job and replacing it with solid productivity. • Great

places to work are much more productive than their competition and have more actively engaged employees, which contribute greatly to the company’s success.

• The

bigger picture is a positive result for all involved. For example, lower health care costs make your business better primarily because less stress contributes significantly to a happier operation--which makes for increasingly happier employees---and an improved business result.

• We

believe that less stressed employees are more focused on living in the green. This major principle of The Oxygen Plan will not only improve employee engagement and productivity, but also add significantly to the bottom line. Living in the green, as a company, becomes a competitive advantage!

• Because

~Do the Math in the workplace is responsible for increased absenteeism, lessened productivity, lowered overall performance of job tasks, including a decline in mental acuity, which affects one’s ability to exercise good, professional judgment in making appropriate business decisions. • Overall, independent test results show that over 74% of employees

~ Management’s role in reducing stress

• Stress

The decision to implement a stress reduction program, like the Oxygen Plan, to boost employee vitality and engagement in the work place, is likely to be considered a noteworthy and positive move on the part of management. For employees, it is more than a morale booster; it is a way of modifying stressed behavior

The Oxygen Plan is “portable” it can be worked anywhere, at any time, among any number of people in and around the workplace making it an infinitely healthier destination for workers. Corporate endorsement and presentation of health and wellness initiatives among employees is a positive trend, producing impressive, impactful and real results.

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the oxygen plan: a quick overview efficacious, game-changer in the corporate training industry and is covered by most health insurances.

giving oxygen abounds.

We are confident that The Oxygen Plan can benefit your company or organization. The Oxygen Plan’s corporate piece: • details the effects and inter-related issues of work-associated and personal stress, including physical and medical symptoms of stress; • addresses the efficacy of traditional treatments as opposed to new behavioral modification treatments; displays easy-to-read cost effective charts and graphics; • reports study and test results; • documents worker feedback and more

We think of our program as the Weight Watchers equivalent of the stress management industry! The concept---“your place to give and get oxygen”---as a brand, insures: • simplicity, • portability, • social networking; • is customizable • provides superior training • provides expandability • measures progress …more • The Oxygen Plan is an innovative,

The Oxygen Plan is easy to access and use The Oxygen Plan is built around a technology base that can be easily implemented within corporations and integrated into your current learning management system. Key features include: • (6) On-line Training Modules that teach people how to live in the green • a validated assessment that can be utilized both individually and across

Our mission is to help people simplify their lives by reducing stress, freeing them to be happier and healthier in the “green”, where life-

an organization to benchmark and track your progress in creating a green environment within the company • all the Oxygen Plan on-line tools, such as the on-line journal and eBook, “For the Best You” • Customized options for blended learning that builds on the initial 6 on-line modules, including face to face training, webinars, coaching and certification of internal trainers. Support We will work with you to maximize the effectiveness of The Oxygen Plan within your company or organization. We will guide you every step of the way to help you strategically position The Oxygen Plan for successful launch and implementation. So, take a deep breath! The Oxygen Plan can be an instrumental tool in helping your company increase performance and productivity. Now that’s what we call living in the green!

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VALLI: WORDING IN THE GREEN

19 From her imagination to the keyboard, this creative writer realizes her best you moments through the written word. Valli has spent the greater part of her adult life searching for that green place where the best person she is, now dwells, in a richly secure and fulfilling environment. It is a place of conscious decision. She is an innately creative freelance writer. Her imagination is that vital, best you destination that holds all the trappings of a successful career and happy life. Her work and artistic bent fuels her greenest, most powerful and productive oxygen-filled days! The power of the written word is at her command and reaches out to touch us with stories that underline our common humanity. This place is a state of being which welcomes the best of who she is. It encompasses all the positive boosts and energizing experiences in her life. It is her castle; her retreat, her creative think-tank, her mental circus; her artistic inspiration, her private “salon”; a fun and inviting place for precious friends; music, laughter, food and wine and silent reverie. She lives in the green because she is in peaceful control of the chapters of her life that really matter, as she watches with delight and wonder as they intersect in rewarding, nonconflicting ways.

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Like a giant, well-oiled piece of machinery comprised of many parts--each movement giving meaning and purpose to the larger intricate process--- her life moves along as it should, because happiness and accomplishment fire it up, everyday! The Power of One It took some serious concentration and examination, on her part, to face the possibility of fixing what did not feel right in her life. At times, stress from just about every area of her life, cascaded onto everything she did or experienced, on a daily basis. She was sure there were less disturbing or less upsetting ways to bring about resolution in even one or two areas, but she just didn’t know how to do it or where to begin. Over the course of many years, Valli instinctively worked through the steps of The Oxygen Plan, without knowing that, one day, there would actually be a name for it! If you believe, as she did, that all the things that make you, you---your activities, your accomplishments, your compassion, your dreams, goals, talents--- are sincere and worthwhile--and you, at the foundation of all you envision, are an important, viable, valued person, capable of crafting a happy, fulfilling life--- there are no limits as to what you can accomplish and how good you will feel doing it. A Mantra in Motion For Valli, a huge part of living sublimely in the green is living simply.

She’s learned to “label”, in her head, the effects of particular stressors to quantify and prioritize them. She has successfully mastered the art of “cancelling” or “deleting” stress and, finally, how to keep these revelations in her private cache of behaviors, ready to be plucked and implemented whenever she needed them. “This gift to myself---the freedom of space and time--- has allowed the real me to surface and to meticulously inject my energies and sensitivities into my work,” says Valli. “Being the best me is synonymous with being creative---that palpable something that takes flight, often unassisted, when I’m “wording”. Life speaks to us in many ways. We are constantly translating those messages until we understand them and make them work for us. Valli makes every word count; that reality is at the core of the best person she can possibly be. Do you spend more time doing the same things out of habit or obligation? Do you put your best moments on hold and forget about them? When is the last time you did something just for the sheer fun or enjoyment of it? Let one best moment into your life each day. What a difference this will make in your overall outlook!

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epilogue Verdant fields of green were alive with sounds of discovery and exhilaration.

of three, “we’ll stay in…and read… and color…and think about why this is the best way to be together!”

“I’m the best me”, announced a formerly beleaguered executive assistant. “No”, boasted the manager of a salad bar, “I am the best of the best of me!” “Do you think we’ll have the best kids?” wondered a young mother and father. “If it rains today,” mused a still-beautiful grandmother

Neighbors, family and co-workers eagerly shared the wonders of The Oxygen Plan…and one by one… said goodbye to their stressful life histories and began living new, happier, optimistic, inspired ones, filled with vitalizing oxygen. It was as easy as breathing.

Sadly, one or two kindly senior citizens succumbed to terminal chuckles. Their life examples, however, live on, like old, treasured home movies and dog-eared scrapbook pages. When the skies rained--pure, life-giving oxygen was released from a carpet of vibrant green grass which continues to grow and nurture… abundantly.