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Recently, I had two bouts of the trots.
The squits.
Delhi belly.
Montezuma's revenge.
Runny bottom.
You get the picture.
What was the cause? Stress.
The irony being that the day it happened I was going down to London to spend the day massaging other people.
It's one of the things I do as part of my portfolio career.
The pay is ok and I love doing it.
The knowledge that someone has come in stressed and left relaxed is both an ego boost and a sign of a job well done.
I'm proud of my work.
A great number of people working in the 'healing arts' - massage, acupuncture, reflexology etc - got into it because they've known the benefits of it as recipients.
If you've ever had a massage, you know how relaxing, invigorating and life-affirming it can be (if you haven't, book up for one soon, it's really worth it).
From my own experience, I know that a good number of people who turn their hand to massage are those prone to stress, myself included.
Having a qualification in stress management is no guarantee of living a stress-free lifestyle.
In fact, the opposite can be true.
I'm very good at telling other people that they should slow down, meditate, do yoga and eat the right foods and, my personal favourite mantra, 'take care of your body or your body will take care of you'.
Do I do it myself? Do I eat my own pie? Do I practice what I preach? I'm talking to myself now.
So here are my five tips to myself as to how to manage stress.
1) Smile The body and mind are so closely connected that the very act of moving the muscles at the side of your mouth in an upward trajectory will make you feel better.
If you can laugh, even better.
Laughter really is the best medicine.
2) Slow Down This may sound like the exact opposite of what you need right now, but your body is telling you something and yes, you'd better pay attention.
If you're stressed, you need to change your behaviour.
You may feel you're not going to get the work done with that deadline looming.
If you end up in hospital, you won't get it done either.
Delegate what you can and make space for what you need to work on yourself.
And you can delegate much more than you think you can.
3) Remember Why You're Doing This There's no point in being the richest man in the graveyard.
A smile from your daughter, the laughter of your son, a hug from your partner.
These are the things that count, not boardroom battles and shareholder dividends.
4) Get A Massage More time and money wasted? No, time and money wisely invested.
You'll be far more productive after one than the manic rabbit you were before.
5) Get Into Nature Care for plants, grow some veg, even if it's a basil plant on your window ledge.
Hey, that rhymed.
Ok, grow green stuff and write poetry...
In one of my favourite films, It's A Wonderful Life, Lionel Barrymore tells Jimmy Stewart he's better off dead than alive.
There are very few occasions when that's true.
Slow down, stay healthy, be alive for your kids.
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