April is Stress Awareness Month. I have been experiencing a great deal of stress lately, related to a family health crisis. I know that sustained stress can lead to heart disease, diabetes, depression and exhaustion.
I also know that there are things I can do to prevent and reduce stress. Some ideas from the US Department of Health and Human Services include reading a book, getting exercise, spending time with meaningful people and meditating.
It seems inevitable that when someone has a sick family member, people say “Do something nice for yourself.” I know I’ve said it to others, yet it makes me laugh when people say it to me now. How can I afford to spend time on myself when there’s so much else to do?
The reality is that you have to find a way to unplug from the stressful situation, even if it’s only for a short time each day. Otherwise, you will end up causing yourself harm.
While I would like to meditate, I find that I haven’t been very successful at it. Instead, I’m allowing myself to accept that I can’t accomplish everything I want to do right now and I’m allowing people to shower me with caring attentions.
What do you do to minimize stress for yourself?
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I lower the bar and learn to accept "ok" and "good enough." Tough for perfectionist to do, and having to lower my expectations is stressful, but there's only so much you can handle. Gotta prioritize.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, mommymegan. Letting go of the way I prefer things to be is tough.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I realized is that I've been able to say "no" to people and that it's not a big deal. As you said, gotta prioritize. Thanks for your comments!
Ananta, I try doing that when I remember. The trick is remembering to do it at all!
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