Top 3 Ways to DeStress (Julie)

Life changes. Sometimes there are many changes at one time and sometimes just one or two. For me, I'm in the stage of OH MY GOODNESS there are a lot of things going on. But that's okay because they are very exciting things!

I just moved to a new island to start a new teaching job, but also because it's where my fiance is. And we're getting married in 3 months!! So yea, much to do.

With all this staring me in the face, it would be so easy to stress out and go hide in a corner. I won't lie that sometimes I look around for that corner. But instead of putting myself in the corner, I tend to steer toward any or all of the following as ways to get my focus back:


1) Stay in the Word/prayer. Staying rooted in God's Word helps me refocus on what is important.

2) Read. Immerse yourself in a good book. Personally, I prefer to get lost in a fantasy as I want to get away from the real world for a bit.

3) Get outside. Vitamin D and fresh air work wonders from clearing the overworked brain.

How do you de-stress? Do you do any of the above or is there something else you do that works wonders? 

Intentional Rest (Lizzie)

The spring semester was a very stressful one for me for many reasons, including several sick family members and a time-consuming and mentally exhausting job of teaching a new class (anatomy and physiology I). During this time, I had two "eye-pisodes" (possibly ocular migraines) where my vision was distorted for about twenty minutes. It's scary not being able to read anything. And, while shopping at the grocery store, I noticed one of my fingers had turned a ghastly white (pallor), and it was some time before its color returned to normal, despite me trying to rub the circulation back into it.

Then, one Saturday, the power went out in the house, which, however, led to one of the best days of the semester. I was the only one home, the power was out inside, I couldn't focus to do my work (class prep) outside in the glaring sun, and I felt like God wanted me to take a much-needed break anyway, so I went for a walk. I roamed the woods noting all the beautiful details it's so easy to miss on a quick walk, like the supplejack vines that seem to climb the air or the mud dabber nests lined up on a rock like colorful houses on a Portuguese coast. When I returned to the house, I played the piano and sang. I did no homework, just enjoyed a Sabbath rest. And guess what? All my work got done on time anyway. No trouble came of me taking a day off. 

Do these remind anyone else of the tall, narrow houses of coastal villages?
Don't you love the different colors?

That day drove home a very important lesson: Rest and recreation time isn't something I use my leftover time for (just like I don't wait until the end of the month to put money in savings). I have to be intentional about them. One of the hardest things to do for me, but something I am working on now, is to stop worrying about getting everything done, and actually take those breaks. But it's worth it. I haven't had any more "eye-pisodes" or attacks of pallor; I feel better, and I am more creative. So take a day off every week and an evening off here and there. The world won't end, and you'll be able to enjoy it much more. 

Do you find taking breaks difficult? How do you keep from worrying about getting everything done?

P.S. Happy Flag Day!

What's Stress Got To Do With It? (Jill)

Last week found me boiling water on my stove.

We live in a small, rural town, and lately, we’d been experiencing air in our tap water. It was like milk, with a surplus of bubbles, that surged from our faucet in staccato bursts. Then people in the community started complaining of dirt in their water. After a few days of this, we received a boil water notice with an urgent plea to conserve. Rumors and facts flew about the level of water in the town tanks, the reason for the low water levels, and what was being done (or not being done) to fix the many leaks in the pipes.

In between deciding if there was enough water to take a shower or do laundry, I was also trying to keep my youngest focused on her homework and midterms. Her math midterm was looming, and play practice for the middle school play was every night. My oldest was also dealing with midterms and waiting for an acceptance to her favorite college.

Surprisingly, I had trouble staying focused on my current Work In Progress (WIP).

Stress  can disrupt creativity. A simple Google search of stress + creativity brings up plenty of studies and coping solutions. I’m thankful I wasn’t dealing with a health issue, a financial scare, a death, or some other tragedy. Our water concerns and midterms are miniscule problems in the grand scheme of things. Still, it affected my productivity. Some people can compartmentalize and work anyway—I envy their ability. I carry my stress with me, make it comfortable, feed it snacks. So when I sit down to write, it settles over my shoulder to breathe down my neck while I stare at a blank computer screen. 

Working on smaller projects helped. I managed to finish a flash fiction piece and polish a short story. I gave myself grace, lots and lots of grace. I’m not superhuman, and I know my limits. Tomorrow would be waiting—preferably one without a boil water requirement, or a million phone calls to make, or a pre-algebra midterm to dread.

On Friday, our community received pallets of drinking water from Nestle, as well as help from a neighboring community to find and fix the leaks in our system. I also read an email from the pre-algebra teacher. (My daughter aced the midterm!)

 

That afternoon, I finished plotting my next WIP. Tomorrow had arrived.