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| AT THE BEACH ;) |
How are you??? Did you have a great weekend? I hope that you are super duper and that you had the best weekend ever.
Man oh man, in my last post, DESTRESS, I mentioned that things were crazy because stress is so unusually high for July. In the summer, I am practically on hiatus, and then stress hits EVERYBODY in October through March. Well, there must be something in the air because I do believe I have had the most stressful time in a long, long time.
The biggest stress events are Death, Destruction, Devastation, Dismemberment, Divorce, and Dying. The SIX D'S. Ha ha ha, I just made that up. It's true though. Think about it! If someone dies, you get stress. If you experience some sort of destruction through man made or natural disaster, you get stress. If you have some sort of devastation like job loss or foreclosure, you get stress. If you experience dismemberment, you get stress. Divorce? Stress! Dying? Stress! Those are the big one's, wouldn't you agree?
Anyway, I have a point to all of this and it is that I experienced a couple of the six. Could you imagine experiencing just one of them? If we experience more than one it could really eff us up, couldn't it?
So, what happened? My Dad was in the hospital, my son moved away to college, and my doggie died. It must of really stressed me out because I got sick. The stomach kind of sick. You know what I mean about the stomach! Things come up and they go down, not so well :(
The reason I am sharing this with you is because I know, with out a doubt, that things can and will affect us so we gotta be prepared. If we are prepared for stress, it is called prevention, sort of ;)
Prevention is what we do before our stress, intervention is what we do while stress is happening, and then direction is the path we take after all the poop hits the fan and dies down a lil bit.
My prevention, for myself, is true education on what stress is. Stress is not our circumstances but how we react to them and our habits of reacting will help us, or not, handle the stressful stuff. When I am really overwhelmed, I have a habit of crying, and then I realize that I am overwhelmed. When I am overwhelmed, I have a habit of being my greatest cheerleader because I tell myself, "you are going to be fine and you can handle this." Then I get down on my knees, ask the Lord for strength and guidance, and then focus on the good.
When my doggie died, my son was there, Thank God, and he sat me down, put his arm around my shoulder, hugged me, and he said to me, "Look at the bright side Mommy, Missy died peacefully in her sleep, she lived a very long cozy life, she wasn't in pain, it was a good thing I was here when it happened (he moved out the next day to college), and all doggies go to heaven." That last part made me laugh.
What wonderful things to say to me and they were all focused on the good. He was my cheerleader that day ;)
Being your own cheerleader, or being with someone who will cheer you on, is a great intervention tool. When we are in the middle of stress we must intervene. My intervention is being my own cheerleader and supporter with the right thoughts, beliefs, and actions. The beach is good too, and that is what I did, I spent the weekend at the beach.
The direction I always take, after a stressful situation, is believing in myself, and knowing that no matter what happens I become a stronger person. In addition, I always get down on my knees and thank the Lord above for all my trials, the strength I am given to endure them, and for the happiness, joy, and peace that comes during and after.
Okay, I am rambling...
Just want you, my friend, to think about prevention, intervention, and direction for your stress so that you can destress yourself. Some things to ponder during stressful times.
Have a great week, okay?!?
Don't forget to have fun, and be playful.
Elizabeth
