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When it comes to waves of busyness in our lives it can be very hard not to let stress take over.  Recently I was thinking about what it is exactly that triggers the stress.  Often it happens when I feel like I have more to do than I can possibly fit in a day.  When it feels like a huge growing list of things that need to be done get pushed back another day and another day.  The feeling like I can’t keep up stresses me out.

I decided to take a look at the bigger picture to regain perspective.  Sometimes it feels like every task that needs to be done is super important and knowing that it is not done yet stresses me out.  However, I was thinking how important is it really?  When I thought about it, most things feel important in the moment, but they are not so super important that they validate stress in my life.  Why should I let the to-dos take away from the quality of my life?  After all, I am the one who decides how much weight to give them and how I am going to react. 

99% of the time the things that stress me out I don’t believe should carry a lot of weight in life.  The phone calls that need to be made, the tasks gone undone, they are not life or death, so why do I sometimes treat it like they are?  It is something I have to figure out because I don’t want to be less present because of what I allow my mind to be consumed with.

Often I find myself in a vicious cycle where I feel like I have so much to do I end up staying up really late trying to get things done, sleeping less, which in turn makes me more irritable and worn out, and it is repeat the next day.  Moving is so much work and I haven’t allowed myself any down time because I am overwhelmed with how much there is to do.  I think this is my vital mistake. 

Like a hamster on a wheel I continually burn myself out more and more without adequate rest, making things feel 1000 times harder or more stressful than they should be.  Not to mention what happens to my patience.  Patience is crucial for me to be happy with my parenting and how I treat my husband.

What I am trying to say in a really roundabout way is that none of my to-dos are important enough that I should give them the amount of weight that I do allowing them to decrease my happiness or quality of life.  It is time to start choosing differently and make rest more of a priority.  I think everything else will fall into place.  I just need to stay strong and have confidence that it will.


Can you help me?  How do you reduce stress?
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Comments

11/02/2010 6:15am

The only way to deal with stress by myself is to make sure I am still doing the things that bring me joy. Baking a recipe that always works well, or doing a soothing yoga routine. Sometimes I really just need to write it all out or talk it all out and get everything that I am stressed about out in the air. It always seems ess erious and kind of silly once it is all out there. Watching some Grey's Anatomy helps, too.

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I feel your moving pains! It is hard because our home is a symbolic extension of oneself. Often a messy home=messy life, but it is unavoidable with a move. The mess often gets worse before it can get better.

With the melee of the move I focused on having one room clean. It became a sanctuary for me. If I needed to I would push, the mess out of it so I could read and have a cup of tea at the end of a day in my pristine space.

And I would head outside with the kids even if it meant something didn't get finished. Being sane took precedence over emptying a box. There is always more space out there and the poppets never seem as loud!

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11/02/2010 11:20pm

Even without the stress of moving, I feel that daily stress of Things To Do. Although they are small tasks individually, they can add up to be weighty. When I feel that type of burden, I give myself very very small To Do lists. For example, I will wake up in the morning, and tell myself that today is a successful day if I just accomplish 2 (or 3) small tasks. If I accomplish more that's gravy, but I make my huge list much smaller and I feel better about it overall.

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11/03/2010 12:06pm

Lots of rest! Also, you have to give yourself a break- you are in the midst of a crazy stressful move! You are entitled to feel a little stress :)

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11/03/2010 4:15pm

@Astrid, @Alicia, @Marilyn, & @Katie,

Thanks ladies! :) Your words have really helped me!

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