Stress

When I was diagnosed with MS, I was told to eliminate as much stress from my life as possible.  I stared at the doctor wanting to ask him if he'd ever raised toddlers.  I'm still being cautioned to keep stress down.  

This is being told to a person who is the classic Type A personality.  Here are some of my traits:

• I am painfully aware of the time and how little of it I have.  It SO bugs me to sleep in late or to take a nap--both of which I am finding I am having to do more often as time goes on.
• I get frustrated while waiting in line--a store, a movie, a stoplight.  My kids are used to me muttering under my breath at rude drivers or 'slow' people. It used to amuse the kids in my car pool.
• Just the other day, my husband was waiting patiently (me not-so-much) in a long line cars coming out of a big convention.  We were following the rules (another thing I do, and it bugs me when people don't!).  Some dork comes screaming through the parking lot going down the wrong lane of traffic; zipped around everyone who was nicely letting everyone in; and zoomed past hundreds of cars.  Out he went onto the main road by going down the wrong side of the road.  I gave him a piece of my mind!  Unfortunately, Rick was the only one to hear it.

• As you can see most of these things cause  irritation and exasperation.  Other people call it rudeness.  Rick sometimes says when things don't go according to 'my schedule,'  I get curt.  And I have to admit, there are times that when heat is involved (heat is a factor for us MS people) and things get out of hand, my temper has a tendency to have a short fuse.

Over the many years of this disease, I've taken strides to become less of  an "A" and more of a 'Go-With-The-Flow.'  I must say this hasn't been easy.  Rush hour traffic is a bear.  I avoid Christmas shopping and try to get it done by Thanksgiving or do the on-line thing.  I stay out of the July and August summer scorching days and hide in air conditioning bliss.  

But, when there are things that are thrown on us or we volunteer for, what are we to do?

This year I was elected to be the President of the Master Gardener's Association of Utah County, Utah.  I was told it wouldn't be a big deal, no stress really.  Hahahahaha.  Little did anyone know that one county agent would retire; one would pass away; the previous president hadn't done much since the other 2 agents did it all for her so she didn't know what to pass on to me; I had seven board members that needed to be filled; and the list went on.

I actually thought I would start my work in my new job in January, but it started in November with the Winter Social and have been rolling ever since.  Last night was the biggest stressor every.  We had our big Summer Social.  Thanks to my committee and my son and hubby, it went down great. Today, I crashed.  Slept until 9:30 am and have done little to nothing since.  To me this is all but a wasted day.

But like I asked earlier, what are we to do?  Here are some things I have learned (and am still learning and trying to put into practice):

• Most important--JUST SAY NO!  There are so many hours in a day.  There is only so much energy you have.  I have learned most people understand when you tell them no.  If people tell me I understand.  In fact, when I hear them hesitate or hem and haw, I just tell them to tell me no.  I would rather have a 'no' than a failed project or a no-show.
• Take a nap.  Go to bed on time.  Rise early.  Ben Franklin had it right when he said "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
• Breathe.  When I feel my blood start to boil or my anger rise, stop and breathe.  Deep, cleansing breaths.  It is amazing what a little deep breathing does.
• Yoga and healthcare providers
• Take time for for YOU.  Whether I worked full-time or was a stay-at-home mom, I scheduled a time that was for me.  It may not have been more than 30 minutes, but I did it at least once a week. I told my kids Mommy was having time-out.
• Rick's excuse was by the time he hauled out what he liked to do, his 30 minutes was almost up and then it was time to put it away.  If that is your excuse (maybe you have a medium that will dry up and needs to be put away), schedule more time.  The important thing is--Schedule.  It is for you.  It is what you love.  

Stress is a bad thing for everyone.  It shortens life.  It causes high-blood pressure, heart-attacks, and for me, leads to allergic reactions. There are times in our lives when it can't be avoided , but we can learn things to help us cope with it.

P.S.  I will be posting pictures of my garden boxes soon.  It is a way I cope with stress.  *Although the weeds in the background that grow in snow, heat, drought, and with every weed killer sprayed on them are adding to my stress.  haha