Unit7 　　Ifyouoftenfeelangryandoverwhelmed,likethestressinyourlifeisspinningoutofcontrol,thenyoumaybehurtingyourheart. 　　Ifyoudon'twanttobreakyourownheart,youneedtolearntotakechargeofyourlifewhereyoucan—andrecognizetherearemanythingsbeyondyourcontrol. 　　SosaysDr.RobertS.Eliot,authorofanewbooktitledFromStresstoStrength:HowtoLightenYourLoadandSaveYourLife.He'saclinicalprofessorofmedicineattheUniversityofNebraska. 　　Eliotsaystherearepeopleinthisworldthathecalls"hotreactors". 　　Forthesepeople,beingtensemaycausetremendousandrapidincreasesintheirbloodpressure. 　　Eliotsaysresearchershavefoundthatstressedpeoplehavehighercholesterollevels,amongotherthings. 　　"We'vedoneyearsofworkinshowingthatexcessalarmorstresschemicalscanliterallyburstheartmusclefibers. 　　Whenthathappensithappensveryquickly,withinfiveminutes.Itcreatesmanyshortcircuits,andthatcausescrazyheartrhythms. 　　Theheartbeatslikeabagofwormsinsteadofapump.Andwhenthathappens,wecan'tlive." 　　Eliot,64,sufferedaheartattackatage44. 　　Heattributessomeofthecausetostress. 　　Foryearshewasa"hotreactor". 　　Ontheexterior,hewascool,calmandcollected,butontheinterior,stresswaskillinghim.He'snowdoingverywell. 　　ThemainpredictorsofdestructivelevelsofstressaretheFUDfactors—fear,uncertaintyanddoubt—togetherwithperceivedlackofcontrol,hesays. 　　Formanypeople,therootoftheirstressisanger,andthetrickistofindoutwheretheangeriscomingfrom. 　　"Doestheangercomefromafeelingthateverythingmustbeperfect?"Eliotasks. 　　"That'sverycommoninprofessionalwomen.Theyfeeltheyhavetobeallthingstoallpeopleanddoitallperfectly. 　　Theythink,'Ishould,Imust,Ihaveto.'Goodenoughisnevergoodenough. 　　Perfectionistscannotdelegate. 　　Theygetangrythattheyhavetocarryitall,andtheyblowtheirtops. 　　Thentheyfeelguiltyandtheystartthewholecycleoveragain." 　　"Othersareangrybecausetheyhavenocompassinlife. 　　Andtheygivethesameemphasistoatrafficjamthattheygiveafamilyargument,"hesays. 　　"Ifyouareangryformorethanfiveminutes—ifyoustirtheangerwithinyouandletitbuildwithnosafetyoutlet—youhavetofindoutwhereit'scomingfrom." 　　"Whathappensisthatthehotterpeopleget,physiologically,withmentalstress,themorelikelytheyaretoblowapartwithsomeheartproblem." 　　Onesteptocalmingdownistorecognizeyouhavethistendency. 　　Learntobelesshostilebychangingsomeofyourattitudesandnegativethinking. 　　Eliotrecommendstakingchargeofyourlife. 　　"Ifthereisonewordthatshouldbesubstitutedforstress,it'scontrol. 　　InsteadoftheFUDfactors,whatyouwantistheNICEfactors—new,interesting,challengingexperiences." 　　"Youhavetodecidewhatpartsofyourlifeyoucancontrol,"hesays."Stopwhereyouareonyourtrailandsay,'I'mgoingtogetmycompassoutandfindoutwhatIneedtodo.'" 　　Hesuggeststhatpeoplewritedownthesixthingsintheirlivesthattheyfeelarethemostimportantthingsthey'dliketoachieve. 　　BenFranklindiditata