Oh yes, that is a line from a movie I am fond of, "Armageddon." It signifies that someone who has not been heard from is back and with something BIG to say!
A year of many significant life changes has left me with little time to post. Do you remember taking those stress tests in school? Scientists Holmes and Raher assigned values to negative stressors based upon their significance in your life. Basically, the higher the score, the more negative stress you have which theoretically increase your likelihood of developing unhealthy habits or sicknesses. I decided that since I feel I've dealt with pretty much every form of negatives stress in the past 6 months, with the exception of death, that I should take this test again. My reason for taking it is to show that I have proven how that no matter what each day brings, we can overcome! Let's take a look first at a few things I realized about myself and then how I have dealt with my stress over the past 12 months.
First, I became thankful for the things that I have not experienced to add stress to my life.
1. I have not been arrested or sent to jail for anything. Yeah!
2. None of my children have left home. Yeah!
3. None of my friends or family members have died. Yeah!
4. I did have an outstanding personal achievement. I got a personal best in a 5K race. Yeah!
Since I already know I have a high score, I chose not to focus on that, rather on the positive. HOW did I do this? HOW did I manage to not get sick during these "stressful" 6 months? I focused on four main things.
1. I pray. I mean truly talked to God and asked for help because no amount of running would be enough to get me through all these changes.
2. I am leaning on family and friends. Everyone always tells us to do that. Maybe you can relate to me, if you are a giver. Leaning on others, accepting help, even accepting words of encouragement can be very difficult if you are used to being the one offering support. I learned. I lean.
3. I keep exercising. I know this is a stress reliever for me. I also realize that I simply am not able to do as much as normal, but some is still excellent for me. I may not be logging long miles, but I am still logging. I realize it is the best I can do right now and it will get better.
4. I keep a list. I decided that focusing on the bad is way too limiting. I began and still keep a list of my accomplishments. It began with something as simple as getting my own cell phone with my own money. Simple, but powerful. Whenever I feel myself being sucked into the deep pool of self-pity, I read over my list, I pray, I exercise, I ask for help!
I am happy to say that I have survived and I am thriving! Each day does bring challenges, some are heart wrenching and take all the strength within me and an unknown amount of strength I gain from God, family and friends. What I know now is that I will make it. In the midst of all that goes on in my life, life keeps going. The clouds still form, the world keeps spinning, life goes on and I'm not going to miss it!
No comments:
Post a Comment