From my friend Merle, January 2016 Safari-Goer
By Merle McKinley, June 13, 2017
From an article in her blog, after taking one of our safaris!
In his acclaimed and successful book, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Robert Sapolsky claims that when we worry or experience stress, our bodies turn on the same physiological response that animals do. What’s different between us human animals and other animals is we do not resolve conflict in the same way animals do — fighting or fleeing. Instead, we brew and stew, replaying in our minds conversations or events we were dissatisfied with. Why this outcome and not that outcome, who is to blame…and on and on it goes.
It can take a long time to “let it go,” and these events often become additional fuel for our resentment and anger. Over time, those emotions have plenty of negative effects on ourselves and our relationships. Wild animals don’t die of stress-related illness. We humans, though, can certainly get very sick from stress.
Up close and personal
At midnight in January 2016 at the Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania, I introduced myself to three strangers and two tour guides. One guide was local, the other the tour organizer from Wisconsin.