I have a confession. And it is not that I overindulged in vegan cupcakes or chocolate. Over the past month, I have not been living a ‘barefoot’ kind of life with the ease and grace that I talk about. I was actually living more of a ‘shoed’ life – the kind of shoes that are too narrow, a size too small and cause blisters the size of baseballs.
I constantly talk about keeping things easy, taking things in stride, and not letting stress get to me. A lot of people have commented to me how calm I seemed while preparing for our move. I laughed – if only they saw me in action at home. Our loved ones definitely get to see us in our truest form – for better or for worse. Over the past few weeks, I have been erring on the side of worse. Thank you hunny for putting up with me.
Stress-bag, emotional mess, nervous breakdown, tense, nauseous, sick, stressed, strung-out, short of breath, lack of focus, irritable, impatient, exhausted, irrational. These are all words that recently frequented my vocabulary.
I did not handle the stress of selling a house, packing, moving and getting settled in a new place with much grace at all. In fact I was more like a train-wreck. Ryan and I fought, I had no patience for the kids, I snapped easily and often, and responded to set-backs by attacking whoever delivered news I did not want to hear.
I felt it very difficult to live life in the moment and not focus on my massive and constantly growing to-do list. I learned a lot of lessons during this rough period. It was hard, but I got through it. When I go through another period of adjustment like the one we just went though, I plan to take the lessons I learned and be more present and handle the stress better.
lessons learned:
- I had choices. I chose to move and I chose to make it happen in a month. I also chose to react with negativity when things did not go the way I expected.
- how I handle stress affects everybody around me. When I let anxiety get the best of me, the kids are irritable, the dogs are tense, and Ryan is usually feeling what I am feeling.
- this too, shall pass…it always gets easier
5 things that helped me stay sane
- smoothies – I usually have one a day; two if I feel tense. If my body is under stress, feeding it whole, easily digestible foods helps me prepare for the unexpected
- showering in the dark. I found this incredibly calming and a peaceful way to either start or end the day.
- made a point to find some alone time to sit or lay quietly, close my eyes and just breathe
- to help keep me healthy I stayed on top of my supplement regime which includes a daily probiotic, increasing my vitamin C intake, adding a serving of green tea, and taking echincea
- getting to bed on time – If I sleep well, I handle stress well (or maybe just slightly better)
These moves probably saved me from an ugly breakdown. Although I had a few outbursts where I let situations get the better of me, putting myself in ‘time-out’ made a big difference. I am on a journey, and everything is progress.
How do you react when you feel stress? Do you observe others’ reactions to your anxiety?
