Funny that I had just mentioned stress earlier… well, I had a leisurely morning and then strolled over to school to do a little more cleaning/decorating. I planned on staying only a few hours so I could enjoy the beautiful weather today.
Anyhow, I put two and two together and figured out a glaring (what must be) error in my schedule. Long story short, this error would be massive, and the more I thought about it, it may not be an error at all. It would change the course of my year – big time, and not in a good way. The proper people were not around to let me know the truth.
Needless to say, I was very distracted. Even though I only had fun things to do at school today, I was starting to get in a negative, worried mindset. Rather than litter my classroom with negative energy, I decided to leave for the day to physically remove myself from the environment. And the decorating was certainly a non-essential task for the day.
I have always been very good at handling high-stress situations. I can fairly quickly and easily mentally remove myself from the situation and rarely do stressful situations in my life manifest themselves to the outside world.
I think I’m a bit more affected because this situation is also very surprising. I know that I can make the best of any situation, and certainly will if this news is in fact correct, but today has tested my coping mechanisms.
Luckily, I had also planned on hitting the gym in the afternoon before a nice, long Bikram yoga sweat sesh. These will be super-cleansing for the mind and body.
I’m going to get zen and hit up Target (again) for some returns. Hasta Luego!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: breakfast, dealing with stress, pressure, running, stress
Hello! I’m usually such a morning person, but I’m a little sleepy this morning. Nevertheless, I’m up and did some exercises: 50 crunches, 15 push-ups, 20 squats, 20 dead-lifts. Right now it’s tea and 1/2 pb&j on whole wheat time, while I lament the fact that I didn’t go to the grocery store yesterday to get produce (we’re almost all out!)
Last night, the husbo worked late – very late. I like to wait up for him even if “waiting up” means leaving the tv on and falling asleep on the couch until he gets in which is what happened last night. He finally rolled in a little after midnight, and when you work at a 9-5 office job, this is extreme overtime. Anyhow, he was super-hungry when he came in so I heated up some dinner and then we went to bed. 5 hours later I woke him up to head back to work. Wow.
While I don’t ever work those crazy hours, my job can be extremely stressful. Many of us are stretched thin and have a lot of pressures in our lives. How do you take care of yourself when you are really stressed? How do you slow down and find time for yourself?
For me, exercise is key. Running is very cathartic for me. I can really clear my head while running outside and listening to only the pace of my footsteps. I tend to schedule some time to run on a really stressful week, even if only for a few minutes. It really calms my nerves and gives me uninterrupted alone time to work through problems.
I also tend to isolate myself from negativity. Lunch with teachers at work can often be a festival of complaints, and when I’m stressed and worked to the bone, I find a quiet lunch by myself, or with a book, really restorative.
As far as easing the transition back into the work week, I tend to use Sunday to cook a bunch of meals, prepare some lunches, etc. This can save me a lot of time during the week and also ensure that I am still getting very healthy, home-cooked meals despite not having much time. I’ll be posting quite a bit on make-ahead meals in the upcoming weeks.
These are a few things I do to keep stress at bay. So let me know – how do you deal?
