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Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans Run The 'Hood

The Three Things That Make Life Less Stressful For Me

[ 2 ] 08/04/2012 |

The last 18 months have been the most stressful time of my entire 40 years of life, even MORE stressful than when my husband was laid off from work for 7 months and we had a 5 yr old, 2.5 yr old and a 6 week old.

The last 18 months have held a death in the family, the husband changing jobs and having to commute much further than ever before, traveling for his job, selling our house, moving in with my mother-in-law into her 3 bedroom house (we’ve now lived here for 18 months!), AND building a new house from the ground up with all the headaches and stresses that creates, plus supporting my parents through some tough times of their own. To make this time all the more *special*, each of my three children how expressed how they are dealing with all of these changes in their own, individual *special* ways.

It’s mind boggling to me what has occurred since February 2011. Typing it out makes my shoulders hunch up, my eyes well up with tears and makes want to run to the pantry to grab any and all food in order to comfort myself. Although the food might give me temparary comfort, it’s not really comforting me at all. It is a farce, made up in my mind. Hey- if I eat this handful of chips, then I will feel better.

NOT true, my friends. I feel the exact same way AFTER consuming whatever item I have snatched up to soothe my frayed nerves, my tired soul, my overwhelmed spirit.

There are only three things that TRULY make me feel better when I feel like life is kicking my ass.

1. Exercise. Any exercise. Just getting my body to the gym, listening to good music, and SWEATING. Going for a run really sets me free emotionally, too. The hot Texas Summer has prevented me from doing as much running as I would like (and my mental well-being NEEDS) but when I feel a pressing desire to let. it. all. go, then I will hop on the dreaded treadmill and make myself WORK for that release of emotion.

2. Sleep. Oh sleep is so wonderful. I need more of it. I feel like I can conquer the world when I get enough sleep. Period, the end.

3. Talk therapy, talking through what is ailing me with either my husband or a select group of best friends. They know who they are and I trust them implicitly, to give me a listening ear, a pep talk, or a hug.

What about you- what helps you get through stressful times in your life? Is your list the same as mine or does it include something different?

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Category: Lisa, MIND IT

About lisa: I'm a runner, duathlete and future triathlete. I love to cook, drink margaritas, socialize with friends, and I laugh with my entire body. I'm the mother of three kids (ages 8, 6 and 3.5), I turn 40 years old in 2012, and I'm trying to find a peaceful acceptance with my body. I am slowly coming into my own, finding a true passion with empowering and motivating women to conquer their fear of the unknown when taking up running for the first time. View author profile.

  • http://whyquantumphysicists.wordpress.com/ Greg Kuhn

    Lisa – amen on the running!  Running is like a cure-all for me.  In fact, I just wrote a blog post about a quantum experiment I conducted on myself last week (which involved donuts, pizza, and running).  I’m going to post the cool results next week.

    For me, running is so phenomenal mostly because I’ve learned to tell myself such good-feeling stories about it that I am, literally, transformed by just a short, easy jog.  I immediately “see” a new Greg in the mirror when I’m done.  I’ve learned to feel this good (and expect these kinds of results) by focusing on positive, uplifting stories about running – especially when I’m doing it. 

    Telling myself how good it is to get my muscles moving, to increase my heart rate, to stimulate my mind.  Playing games with myself while I run, like pretending I’m trying to get in shape for the Olympics.  Soothing my body and brain when they complain, by affirming their concerns while assuring them that nothing bad is happening (and, in fact, we’re all working together – my body, brain, and mind – to do some wonderful things for the aggregate when we run).

    I learned to do all these things by studying quantum physics.  And it really makes such an immense and measurable difference to do them!

    Thanks for the great post.  My wish for you is that you find less stress this week!

  • Mary P.

    Wow Lisa!  I  would be curled  up in the fetal position if I were you! You  are brave and strong and courageous my friend! And SMART – smart to recognize what works for you in terms of turning things around and righting the course. I have come to find that my own list is identical to yours and that the area I need to improve upon is the sleep department. Exercise? What a life saver! Truly! Focusing on my health and fitness and adding exercise into my life helped to bring me out of a spell of depression a while back. It is powerful medicine! I felt much better after a run than just about anything else. These days when I feel too much of life piling on me, my first thought is ‘how soon can I get outside and get moving?! Do it asap!” and I do. And the world is right again for a little bit at least! GREAT post!