A few weeks ago Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary released their list of newly added words. Among them are....generation z, tent city, mocktail, hangry, instagram, airplane mode and my personal favorite - nothing burger. For years I thought that a “nothing burger” was the sandwich that I used to make when I was a teenager and we were out of cold cuts. I used to slather mayonnaise between two pieces of white bread and call it a day. I loved those sandwiches filled with a whole bunch of nothing!
Lately, the words “nothing burger” have been used by both sides of the (political) aisle to describe something that has been over-hyped and has high expectations but turns out to be insignificant, average or absolutely nothing.
One of my friends has a very interesting parenting approach with her toddler that has worked out quite well. Instead of over-hyping every little thing that goes wrong, she treats every issue as a nothing burger. Whenever she senses a tantrum coming on, she meets the impending outburst with the phrase “nobody cares, Leo!”Her brilliant strategy works every time. The little guy ends up putting his tantrums on hold as soon as he realizes that no one is listening to his demands.
In my line of work, I talk about cortisol quite a bit - the hormone that your body produces when it goes into “fight or flight” mode. This was a good thing many years ago when humans had to run for their lives from lions and tigers. A high adrenaline rush was just what was needed to save your life! Nowadays, our stress response kicks in early and often and for far less threatening things than lions and tigers and bears. We need to work on suppressing our adrenal response to everyday stressors so that our immune system does not become compromised.
Do you regularly watch television news programs or read newspapers? Even if you have made a conscious decision to avoid the news, if you are on any kind of social media platform, it is practically impossible to completely silence the late-breaking reports and news alerts. There always seems to be more bad news than good news. I don’t recall receiving too many news alerts on my phone that let me know how well things are going in the world. It is easy to be overcome with emotion and get stressed. You don’t need me to tell you about the impact that stress will have on your health. 85% of all doctors visits are due to stress related symptoms. My family has a new policy - Instead of reacting (or overreacting) every time we hear or read a bad news story, we remind ourselves that the best response is to stay strong and keep calm. One of my Qi Gong students was recently telling me that when she went on a cleanse program run by Martha Stewart, one of the first recommendations was a complete MEDIA and NEWS BLACKOUT. While it was hard at first, she felt so much better after one month.
There are many ways that we can lower our stress levels and improve our health. Creating a NEWS-FREE zone is just one of them. This may not only be the perfect time to do this, I know that this is also “just what the doctor ordered.” I do feel as if most of what I see and read feels a lot like a toddler’s tantrum and that I should be screaming at the tv “nobody cares, Leo!” I highly recommend you do the same thing. Besides, I think that treating all of the negative news as one big nothing burger is a much healthier approach than eating a mayonnaise sandwich!