The Rock Island Argus from Moline, Illinois • 13

your stress in 31 days Therapists book takes a humorous looK at anxiety FSrt Worth Starlfflegram'. You say theres not. enough stress in your life? Psychotherapist Tricia Seymour wants to helpt Help you be stressed, that is. So she wrote a -pocket-size; thought-fbr-the-day book, 31 Jo Increase Your Stress." The first step: Worry Seymour recommends on Day 1 of the monthlong stress quest Think, about Jail the terrible, awful things that could possibly happen to you or anyone you know someday! die advises, noting it is particularly helpftil to worry about things you cant con-troL reverse-pay-' chology bopk is the flrstof a spoofy self-help series, is a motivational corporatetrainer for Karisen A Sey-: mour International. (Theres no -Kajisen.

But it does make the Com-' pany sound biggei; doesnt it? she cracks.) Seriously folks, Seymours theo-' ry is that in some dark corner of most of our psyches, we like stress. People know all tiie right tilings, to do to decrease stress; they Just dont do them, says the Florida Author Seymour's thoory Is -that In soma dark coraor of most of our psychos, wo llko High tech: Devil made us doit! Heres a spooky story for you! Long ago and Car away Pope Leo -XnL in the midst of Mass in Rome in 1884, happened, in on a heavenly conversation -r a hellish challenge, actually from the devil to the the Lord, Ids God. While frozen in mid-Mass, the pontiff heard the devil defy the Lord to allow a test of the faith of His followers. Give meacentury cackled Satan, the wink of ah eye in Your allegedly grand scheme of things, and Ill show you JUST how much your people love you! Give me a hundred years, and rn turn Ybiir people so for amp from You, itll make Your omnipo-; tent head was followed eerily by the most unholy laughter ever heard. True to His word, in the established tradition of ask and ye shall receive, the good Lord said, OK Youre on." And gave Satan a century This one.

Given this Century Satan was faced with the problem of what to do with it How could he drive as big a wedge as possible between God and man ln so relatively short a time? Mind ybu, this was not the first time Satan had so asked and received. Centuries before, he had been given precisely this opportu-nity though on a much smaller scale, with Gods servant Job At dud time, Satan had sought to 1 shake Jobs faith by destroying his every Earthly possession and 11 his family even to the point of inflicting Job himself with give open sores. Tuck! Amazingly enough, job wavered. Satan lost Given Srematch, the devil decid- ed on a different tact to divide and conquer; technology Now at this point, it would be reasonable to audibly scoff and say Modem technology is the work of the devil? Yeah, right! Advances in transportation and communication have made the world smaller, bringing us all together. Adiieve- ments in medicine and agriculture heal and feed the masses.

And the advent of Wal-Marts have helped clothe them, for heavens sake! While all of that is well and good. and seemingly closed to dispute, lets play the devil's advocate, quite literally in this case, for just a moment. At a very basic level, technology almost always suppliants some level of humanity Not only does machine power replace manpower, but it distances, if not isolates, us from each other and from reality in the process. See for yourself. Pick a techmdo- gy Any technology The crystal clearest example is probably the advance from cannon balls to atom bomba We can kill millions of people we'll never see, know or even be mad at with a of a button.

Wfe no longer have to look a person in the eye to kill him, although we sdll da Andoften, when we try modern medicine is technologically able to keep us alive; but it lets attorneys and insurance agents say how and when we should be allowed to die. But I dont mean to be extreme. something as innocuous as the telephone makes a good exam-pie. The technology allowing you to reach out and touch someone you care about has largely became a ftinnelfor incoming calls you couldnt care less about The automobile takes us out of mass transportation and into our pwn little worlds. Then out to more little wolds in die And native; who holds a masters degree In marriage and family therapy from Southwestern Baptist Theo- logical Seminary in Fort Worth.

I think stress either makes peo-; pie feel important because they 1 have so much on their plates; or they can get sympathy from other people, play the martyr me. Poor ma Pour it on me. But enough hypothesizing. In the book ($6.95, Blue Sky Markking of. St Paul, Seymour advises -readme (this, is Day 3 now) to pro- crastinate.

Why hurry?" she asks.You do better under pressureL" Day 13 is tiie time to Be inflexible. Dont gtae in, move, budge, change or compromise; it's a sign ofweakness. The authors favorite Day 18: Convince yourself that chocolate is the.fifth food gnnqi Fat, sugar and caffeine, all hi one package. What more could a body akt for? And so it goes. Blame others.

Lose your sense of humor. Charge your credit cards to the max. Stay disorganized, the better to add excitement to your life. And of course (Day 28), Take things personally; they are probably meant that way anyway she instructs. Licensed professional counselor Bartnra Neal- said she likes.

Sey- mow's humorous approach to anxiety People can see themselves in a way that's not threatening and more likely to change; try to do something different she Seymour is. working on a slx-. book series, Including 31 Days to Ruin Your Relationshipi The guy Im seeing right now is helping me write that she says. Hes a therapist tod -When the series is done, Seymow says, You can put them together. In a gift bag with a black bow and call it Six Months to a Miserable Life.

Her publishing plans dont stop there. As a therapist I'm always rec- ommending pmqile keep journals, she says. So I'm creating a Miserable Life Journal blank pages, a picture of a little guy under a rain cloud, standing in a puddle. "That would sell for more money -than the books and I dont even -have to write it he next time yourkids get a snack others your kids like into chunks and store cooking process For Instance, they can peel; attack, be prepared! Invite them them in an easy-to-open container in the refrig- slice or mash bananas. They can stir, sprinkle, Into the kitcheivand get out the erator so kids have easy access to them, push the button on the blendes thread fruits on -fruit 1 Keep itepls such asraisins and basic bak- wooden skewers or toothpicks and dp many of Its a great way to teach kids ing ingredients flour, Sugar and butter on the simple steps include in the recipes fea- how to prepare their own simple hand so that you and the kids can bake when- hired today gnacksand to encourage them to ever the mood strikes.

Remember to have ftm! The more kids i think of fresh, good-for-you fruits Provide kids with their own supply of plas- 7 enjoy time in the kitchen, the more rewarding as an everyday treat tic bowls and safe kitchen tools, such as a pota- It will be for the whole family Bananas, fer instance, offer all kinds of pos- to spatula and wooden spoons. sibilitiea for kids and parents to "cook togeth- Keep a shaker filled with cinnamon and Funny FftCO Fruit PIZZSS er Kids love peeling them, and they cart cut sugar filled for sprinkling over fruits. them with a plastic knife or really get Into Give your older kids specific safety lessons mashing themwith a potato masher or fork. in using the microwave, hot oven (always with And along with a rainbow of other fresh fruits, hot pads) and blender, bananas taste gnat with a long list of kids Make sine younger children are always favorite foods, from marshmallows to pudding, supervised from washing their hands before The following tips will help you Bet the stage working with food to using a sturdy stepping and then its snack time! stool (not a chair) to reach the sink and kitchen Stock upon fresh fruits so that you always -counters. have a supply on hand.

Get a kitchen timer and teach your kids Take a few minutes to cut fresh fruits such how to use it. as pineapple, mangoes, kiwi, apples and any When possible, let kids participate in the. PLEASE SEE FRUIT, B8 WO PLEASE SEE ASHCRAFi; B4 Thrills, chills, dusk and non find it all in the Q-C this weekend! ET CETERA who are doing oversized Jeans, Vice President Cason-dra Sigers told the menswear mafegzine DNR. We're trying to dokomething different Gettlftt man-lad? Itll you $19,104 Nmpffm of getting married more exact, the ing the wedding of has gone up since 1990. magazine, a survey of irly married The or cost of your nearly 21 So reports which con its engaged pi citizens will be conducted on four nights in mid-December.

On each night, approximately 15 MetroLink buses -will take participants on routes through Rode Island, Moline, East Moline, Silvis, Colona, Bettendorf and Davenport. Homeowners wishing to be considered for the tour must have their houses decorated by the last week of November, when members of the tour route committee will be can-vaslng neighborhoods. Home-owners are encouraged to get their neighbors to decorate as well: entire neighborhoods that are decorated will be given special consideration, as will special effects such as the use of carolers on tour nights, If you want to be considered for the tour, call CITYLINE at 757-1000. enter category 1188, and leave your name, address and daytime phone number. A tour committee member will return the call at a later data Various awards will be given to homes, businesses and groups that are part of the tour.

Information about signing up for the actual tour will be released to area senior citizens at a later date. It found the average wed- ding today costs S19.104. compared with $15,206 at the start of the decade. Ohe reason. Bridegrooms are spending an average of $3,044 on engagement rings; up from $285.

Your home could bo part of lights tour I I Decorate the outside of your house for the holidays and it could be featured on the 199? Quad Cities Police Annual Seniors Christmas Lights Tout This year's tour offered free of charge to area senior What would you put In this pockot? San Hrandsco Chronida Flip Fly Jeans, created by Atlanta Design House and set for debut next spring, will feature a large buttoned flap in the fly area, covering a pocket that covers the wearer. The pocket is big enough to accommodate a beeper or anything else the customer wants to carry but the company insists that the advantage of having such a feature in such a place has nothing to do with its effect on the silhouette. There's just a lot of brands I readers. THURSDAY LIFE'S YOUR GUIDE TO FUN TrJryT' i 1 wf.