I was recently sitting in a lesson about how to manage your stress. I was thinking that I did a great job at that and the lesson would be good basic information. Wrongo! As I sat and listened to the life long counselor addressing the large crowd of us I realized that “We” (my hubby and I) were in maintenance mode. We were dealing with our lives day to day. We had jam-packed our lives with things that were helping us to zone out the stress in our life and because of that we were not accomplishing our goals. So I went back over the informative hand out and decided to make simple decisions that would help manage our stress. It is like when you decide to go to college. You understand that in order for it to be a successful endeavor you have to sacrifice time and energy. Sometimes we get into the middle of those life changes and we forget our end goals.
The lesson objective was to get us to understand that we need to build up internal control. If we have repressed feelings then we need to learn to express needs/ feelings appropriately. Anxiety = Relaxation techniques, slow down, gain control of emotions. Tension= strenuous physical activity, sleeping well, proper nourishment. When our lives are out of control there can by physical symptoms = getting sick. Irrational thinking= trying to escape. Inappropriate behavior = being angry all the time, lashing out.
I tend to put myself in “time out” when I am too overwhelmed. Sometimes quiet alone time helps to gain nerve and perspective. I am a stay at home mom with three kids. It is a hard but very rewarding job. I have a lot of expectations of myself. So we must manage our stress! Maintenance is all about fixing the car and then driving it away from the shop!!!!! Drive AWAY! Sacrifice is all about life being a little uncomfortable.
