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| DMX knows what I'm talkin bout! |
1. I can be TOO flexible. I allow the requests of others to dictate my schedule a lot of the time. Many of my daily decisions are made trying to accommodate others, or trying not to disappoint people.
2. I can't say no to people at work...I will never allow the words LAZY, SELFISH or LAX to be touchin my rep. So I end up taking on a bunch of extra work.
3. I can't shut my brain off, and therefore cannot relax or sleep. And therefore, the few times I have managed to get in bed before 10, have resulted in me having a mini panic attack at the next day's, month's, year's tasks. I replay conversations in my head-conversations that could have been better, or longer, or shorter, more firm, or in more detail. I think about the dinner I made and how it's just not exactly how I wanted it. I think about my parents and family and how I need to spend more time with them. How I need to be nicer to my husband. How I miss my out of town friends. How I need to spend more time with my in town friends. How the summer is coming and I need to find some sort of income. And did I pay the power bill? How I might have to cancel date night to write the IEP I haven't had time to get to. I need to volunteer more. Jasper is usually pressed up against my stomach in an attempt to spoon, and his fat ass reminds me that I need to walk him more frequently. You get the point... I freak out.
So what's a girl to do?
Well as usual, my body knows when enough is enough, my brain not so much. So instead of powering through this week, after a month long nightmare of work and personal chaos...Chelsie go boom! I wake up with an insane, like lock me in a dark room with sunglasses and a caffeine IV, kind of headache. I am not prone to headaches or migraines either. My first thought: why do I feel like this when I have been eating so much better and exercising regularly. I'm taking care of myself, right? Wrong! Stress has been known to be my worst enemy.
In college, I began this mysterious act of passing out while working my 50 hour work weeks, yeah like fainting goat pass out.
Like embarrassing drop and stops in the middle of the restaurant I worked at, falling head first into glass doors while on a job interview, on the bathroom floor during a power outage, landing on the flashlight I was grasping and forever reshaping my nose, but yadda yadda. So the verdict, from the neurologists and cardiologists, after numerous tests and evaluations: "Based on your locale and situation, you are passing out from stress." Say what!? My response: That can't happen..you can't pass out from stress, it's not REAL, or tangible, or something I can just get rid of. Why don't you pay my college tuition and rent then I'll work less and be less stressed. A-Holes! ..yeah I got real stressed at the diagnosis.
But what I've learned from my experience is that stress is real and can have real negative effects physically and mentally, you can't just ignore it and treat it like a non-entity. So how does the girl nicknamed 'Stress monster' by her husband, REDUCE stress? (Because the thought of never being stressed is unrealistic in my opinion.)
So I made the Stress Monster's STRESS BUSTING List for the week:
1. Run and workout at least 4 times a week. No beating myself up if I miss a workout either!!
2. Try and limit the amount of work I do at home. Like 2 hours at home a week tops. I'm gonna work my tail off at the office and then I'm going to leave it there!
3. Continue to eat healthy, and stay prepared.
4. Schedule some fun things in my near future!
5. Go to bed at 10! Sleep deprivation is not a good look on me.
6. Say no! If I am not capable of taking on a task, and doing it well, Imma say no! And my hope is that people at work won't hold it against me. Or they will just SECRETLY hate me...
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| This be my 'NO' face! |
7. Take 30 min each day to sit and reador just be alone or quiet.
8. Remind myself of the good things family, friends, husband, dog, students!
Things I'm gonna give a shot:
9. Yoga- I don't know why it is so hard for me to go. I can't sit still, I'm not limber enough, I don't feel like I'm releasing energy, I'm the only person in the class that laughs when people fart. Then I laugh even harder when people don't react. But maybe I need to be out of my comfort zone, doing something I just simply suck at.
10. Turn off my self critic. Maybe just turn it down to medium. I'm going to need to shut the inner-me up, because she's getting on my nerves. While I think it's important for self-improvement to be self aware and know our own flaws, too much self criticism is debilitating.
AND I'm going to get in that kitchen and try some new recipes, listen to my Rich Roll podcasts, and then blog about them this week -because that makes me happy, and stress can suck it!
After three months of working on the body, I think it's time to start taking care of the mind.
