It's Monday and work today was a typical Monday - busy!! Our weekend was busy, too. Our kids came over to help us replace our flooring and it took most of the weekend to get it done. It looks great, though, and I'm so thankful for their help. But it left me little time to do anything else, like reading, yardwork, housecleaning, laundry, and food prep. Now I'm behind on all of those things. Oh well! My floors look fantastic!
If you've been following my blog, you know that it's been a stressful summer so far with David's health issues and the passing of his father. With David's upcoming surgery, it's probably going to be another 2-3 months before he is recovered and able to go back to work. Right now he can't drive and is limited with what he can do, so that leaves me to drive him around to his appointments and doing many of the household and yard chores. This is in addition to taking care of the dogs and working full time. It can be a lot some days and there are times when I feel overwhelmed.
But I know this isn't forever and so when I become discouraged, I remind myself that this too shall pass. I've been through worse things in my life. However, I'm human and I'm not perfect, so I try to give myself grace when the stress gets to be too much and I have to have a good cry in the shower. Or if I reach for the wine after a hard day at work. Or if I lose my patience with David (poor guy!) It happens.
There are things that I'm trying to do, though, to manage my stress so that it doesn't get to me so much. After all, I need to stay healthy so that I can take care of things. The main thing I'm doing is self-care, which involves daily exercise, including walks, meditation, staying hydrated, and eating healthy. When I do these things, I'm able to stay more focused, have more energy, and be in a better mood. I'm more patient, and I sleep better.
However, there are days when I don't always do those things and I can definitely notice a difference in my mood. Alcohol, especially, affects my sleep, which in turn affects my mood the next day because I'm tired and cranky. Fried and/or cheesy foods are also things that I reach for when I'm struggling to cope with stress. That leaves me with a stomachache, which in turn, affects my sleep and makes me tired and cranky (are you seeing a pattern here?)
So instead what I'm trying to do in lieu of reaching for the wine or junk food is going for a walk after work instead of having a glass of wine. Walking gives me energy and so then I'm not too tired to make a healthy dinner. Instead of wine, I'll have a sparkling water. Going to bed at night and not having alcohol or junk food, and getting in at least 8,000 steps that day helps me sleep much better and so I wake up the next morning feeling rested.
Getting out of the house by myself has also helped, although I feel horribly guilty leaving David alone, but meeting a friend for lunch or coffee is necessary to keep me sane. I have to give myself a break, even if it's for a short time.
Finally, when I feel myself start to spiral, I stop, breathe, and think about all of things in my life that bring me joy. I go out into my gardens and look at the flowers. I cuddle the dogs. I think about all of the fun things that David and I will do once he is feeling back to normal. I Facetime my daughters and grandbaby.
It's definitely not a perfect system. I still get overwhelmed at times, but honestly, I feel like it would be so much worse if I wasn't taking care of myself.
So in a nutshell, these are the things that are keeping the stress levels at bay:
Exercise
Drinking lots of water
Limiting alcohol
Meditating
Limiting junk food
Getting plenty of sleep
Getting together with a friend
Practicing gratitude
Most importantly, on the days that I don't do these things, I forgive myself and move on.
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