I am stressed. Really stressed. This whole loan thing is making me crazy. I won’t get into the details because it’s probably boring to people who aren’t directly affected by it, but let’s just say that it reminds me of a quote from one of my college buddies: “Money is like toilet paper. It only matters when you don’t have any.” And right now, folks, we are fresh out of t.p., and it is a BIG, BIG deal. So let’s sum up how I’m coping with this:
1. I’ve had a headache nearly every day for the past 2 weeks.
2. I’m taking over-the-counter sleep aids to get to sleep at night, otherwise I lie awake, twitching and worrying.
3. Since I’m sleeping pretty horribly lately, on Friday night I came home from work and immediately crawled into bed. It was around 5:00. I told Dave to wake me up after an hour, but he didn’t. I woke myself up around 8:30 p.m. I had dinner, went back to bed, and slept until 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.
4. I spent most of the day Saturday cleaning, which is how I often deal with stress. There’s something that happens to me when I feel like my life is out of my control, so I start taking charge of the things I can control – namely, how clean my kitchen is. I ended up cleaning the entire downstairs. It felt pretty good to get that done, too.
5. I spent all day Sunday in bed. Call it hiding, I guess. Dave stayed there with me. He played video games on his laptop, I watched movies. I went downstairs long enough to do one load of laundry, but otherwise, we stayed in our room. I even brought our dinner (re-heated pizza – yow, what a gourmet chef I am!) upstairs on a tray for us to eat in bed. Crazy.
Then last night, I got home from work, and I was so frazzled that I felt like I could explode at any minute. Every nerve ending was on edge. So I grabbed my iPod and I went for a walk. And it was strange – just that 30 minutes of alone time (just me & my “workout tunes” playlist), and I felt so much calmer when I got home. No more headache. Go figure. Maybe it was because I stopped to pet the neighbor’s goats, and they always make me smile because they’re so darn cute, and I love that little “neeeeh” sound they make when they see me approaching. Maybe it’s because Madonna’s Ray of Light album has a calming influence on me. More than likely, I think it’s just a sign that I need to get more exercise. So I’m going to try to work on that.
Walking is great stress buster. I have been worried about my $$$ with taxes due. It was the only thing on my mind for weeks. I started walking everyday for two weeks now. My jeans fit looose now . It has been great to connect with nature again. Everything coming alive, little fur babies running around. We even have a mother goose sitting on her eggs at my office. I walk to music also. I just love my little mini pod! Hang in there.
I wish you lived closer so I could take you out for margaritas. Or I wish you lived in washington DC as opposed to washington state so we could go out for swirly margaritas. MMMMM…
Yum… Margaritas would be nice. And that would work far more effectively than tylenol PM.
Walking and Margaritas: the 2 great stress-busters. Ooh, here's an idea— you should walk to a bar, have a margarita, and walk home again! And have another margarita at home. But, seriously, you know what I think. Exercise cures all that ails you. The more frazzled you are, the louder you turn that iPod volume up! And repeat the mantra: "this too shall pass" 🙂
I know it's probably futile to mention anything yoga-ish, but standing on one's head is great for stress reduction too. Anything that requires a person to focus on breathing will also quickly reduce emotional wobbliness.
While I'm sure it has its usefulness, I would tend to think that standing on one's head is probably not the best way to get rid of a headache. And at the moment, getting rid of the pounding behind my left eye is a much bigger priority. And Cat, I'd love to walk to the bar & then walk home, but now that we live in the boonies, the round trip would take me 3 days! 🙂