There is so much talk about chronic stress…
How we get ourselves into feeling the consequences of chronic stress…
The definition of chronic stress says that it is the response to emotional pressure suffered for a prolonged period of time in which individual perceives they have little or no control.
We get up each morning and there is already a mountain of work waiting for us, weighing on our shoulders…an endless to do list…
at home…at work and even in our free time…
But we see it as something we have to do…we have to keep going….
I remember thinking to myself…how could I have gone to the doctor to say I was exhausted all the time before cancer?
I was a mum, a working mum and my kids were still 6 and 4 so really…I hadn’t taken any time off from sleepless night….I was on a constant threadmill to make sure everyone had what they needed for the last 6 years….
I thought it was normal to be exhausted…
Besides I would be too proud to do that….I couldn’t…I didn’t know how to…
I was too stress at work too, not because work was putting stress on me but because I wanted to perform at the highest level I could…
Again I wouldn’t have said I can’t do this anymore… I had set my mind to accomplish certain things at work and that was my focus…
I also was carrying so much emotional baggage that it wouldn’t be easy to write on one post…
When I look back, I felt under pressure in all areas of my life…the biggest pressure came from inside me by the way…
But I never allowed myself to take time out….
To doing something just for me….
To replenish myself, my body and my soul…
I thought I needed to keep going…
I think this is when many of us need to stop and recognize that stress is and will always be part of our lives.
But what we do to replenish ourselves is important to help us to deal with it, to manage it in a much better way…
It doesn’t have to cost mountains of money, it doesn’t have to take all the time in the world…
What it is important is to allow ourselves to take time out to ourselves…to acknowledge where we are at when we are dealing with everyday stress in our lives…
You are not going to be deemed weak or less than by doing that…you will be deemed to being strong by being true to yourself.