It's Easy to Feel Stressed

Sometimes stress comes in the form of this stress scale. But other times what's overwhelming us isn't on the list. The great recession, brexit and an election for instance.

Even still, I do find the list helpful. Every year I see something big on the list pop up in my life.

Some stress is so big that it comes with the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Sometimes privately, sometimes publicly. 

I feel like I've been going through several stages in the last 24 hours. Maybe you have too.

When I start feeling overwhelmed, I have to admit, I don't always react in healthy ways.

I often:

• Check Facebook and scroll endlessly

• Type terms into Google and read news article after news article

• Try to find cute animal photos or videos

• Feel like just going back to bed

• Spiral back to Facebook... you get the idea

Then there are other things I do, which seem to work better in the long run.

In case they are helpful to you, I wanted to share them here.

Some of my healthier reactions have been:

• Taking a moment to breathe

• Giving space to those around me and being gentle with them

• Writing a thank you email to someone I appreciate

• Giving a small gift to someone else

• Buying something small for myself

• Being vocal about the things I appreciate in my life

• Remember the Kubler Ross curve

• Meditating for one minute

• Thinking about how I can help others

• Telling my partner how much I love her

• Listening to some of my favorite music

• Filling the bird feeder

• Giving a close friend a call to just talk

• Writing down ideas to help those I care about

These are just a couple simple ideas. They won't fix everything or help me eliminate stress from my life, but in a simple way they help me start dealing with overwhelm. 

I can feel them helping me today and I hope they can be helpful for you too.