Turns out I have three sisters...

Okay, two flesh and blood sisters and an ongoing obsession with the band Sister Hazel. Guess which one this post is about.

Oh, my sisters are more than worthy of their own blog posts. Scores of them. But at the end of the day, those relationships have complexity. Nuance.

Today, I'd rather talk about one of the simplest, least nuanced relationships I have. Simply put, Sister Hazel makes music. I get happy. Done.

Mind you, I've rediscovered this great band from my college days only in the past 6 months. Taking advantage of the many, many, many free downloads available in Amazon's mp3 download section I stumbled onto a Sister Hazel tune. And not one from our collective glory days of the mid-90s.

As it turns out this band continues to pump out album after album of amazing music. And they give away songs that most acts would happily lock away into a vault searching for a ridiculous record deal. Songs like "Hello, It's Me," "Walls and Cannonballs," "Everything Else Disappears," "Ghost in the Crowd..." I could go on, but you get the point.

Honestly, my goal here is not to convert you and recruit new "Hazelnuts."

Yes, there is a term for this sickness.

Rather, my aim is to discuss bliss and embracing yours. I know Sister Hazel doesn't do it for everyone. My own lovely wife thinks I'm... Well, I'm not exactly sure what she things about my love of the band, but I doubt it is pretty. For her, it is Dave Matthews. Or sometimes Tool. Or sometimes Willie Nelson. (Damn, she is COOL!)

We all have something different. Music for some of us. Sports. Food. Alcohol. Cigarettes... Some stress relievers are better than others. But we all have one.

This music, these gravelly harmonies, they charge me. I stick in my headphones and crank the iPhone and suddenly I'm not grudgingly slopping through the dishes. My feet start tapping. My neck begins moving independently of my body. This fat old white man's body starts bouncing around almost to the beat. Before you know it, I'm getting household chores done AND giving the poor neighbors a show through our big, curtain-less kitchen window.

So I tell you that to tell you this...

Stress kills. And more so than we thought. On the elliptical this morning I was reading a National Geographic Special on PBS (it's called Closed Captioning, people) called "Killer Stress."

Turns out, stress really does horrific things to us. And when we say it ages you, we aren't talking about a few gray hairs. At the tips of every strand of DNA are these little caps called Telomers.

If you are familiar with cloning science, you are already familiar with telomers. They've been frustrating scientists in that field for years and years. If not, well, think of them as the little plastic tips on your shoelaces, the aglets. Over time, that tip will wear away and then your shoestring starts to fray.

Well, telomers do the same thing for our DNA. They protect it and keep it from unraveling. As we grow older, they grow shorter.

Stress hormones speed up that process.

Yep. Stress LITERALLY can cause you to unravel.

Who says sciences isn't creepy... cool... creepy... creepy and cool.

If you get a chance to go and watch that program, I do recommend it. Very interesting piece of television, with or without the Closed Captioning turned on. Loads more interesting things about stress and its effects on our health and relationships, not to mention the specific, frightening things it does to your brain. Seriously, last minute cram sessions for college kids: horrible idea!

The point, dear patient reader of my rambly, ramblingness, ... Find something. Music. Sports. Blowing bubbles in your milk. I don't care what. Just something that makes you feel light and happy.

I'm convinced that most stress is a choice. As is most joy. The world happens around us as it does. But we decide what to empower. And too often we empower the upsetting and unsettling.

Joy isn't hard to find in this world. But it is awfully easy to dismiss and diminish. So don't. No matter how simple or trivial, embrace your happiness and put down the stress no matter how massive it would seem.

I say this All For You. Change Your Mind and you'll be Happy. So Concede and believe me, and go find your Champagne High.

Speaking of happy. Sister Hazel's acoustic version of "Happy" from the Before the Amplifiers album... Wow.