Stress

2011 and 2012 were years filled with never ending stress. To the point that my body was affected by the amount of stress it was continually put in front of. Of the list of 'symptoms of stress' I had almost all of them. But the huge flags were my increasing memory problems, anxiety, moodiness, short tempered, aches and pains, weight gain (shout out to the 20lbs of ju-jubes) and an increase of my OCD habits.

Now almost a full year later I am still trying to recover from these things. The beginning of 2013 saw some very serious side effects to no longer having stress - recovery. Recovery from prolonged stress is difficult. It requires a lot of sleep, exercise, sleep, doctors appointments and a resetting of your body and your mind. I have consulted my doctor more this year than in any other year of my life. I have had acupuncture for my hormones and my digestive issues, I get massages almost monthly, I see the chiropractor (although I do miss my one from my home city) and I saw a dietitian.  And all of these things helped in their own way. But I think the thing that was needed the most is time and no stress, time to reset the body and learn what my new normal is.

The other great thing is that I now have what are considered 'normal' responses to stress when they come. This past weekend was unbelievably stressful and I handled it like a normal person. I dealt with it, didn't get overly moody, didn't eat my weight in candy, and cried a bit. A far cry to my reactions of all of the stressful events in 2012.

The important things I have learned from all of this: Pay attention to when the stress gets too much. Your body will tell you when you have reached that point. For me the huge indicator is when I couldn't continue conversations or sentences that I was having because I lost my train of thought while I was having them. At first it was weird but then it got to be quite normal for me. Although I did realize it shouldn't be normal and I did worry I was having mini strokes. When you reach your point, this is the time to step away and re-charge. Go for a walk, say NO to one of the tasks you are being asked for, sit quietly in a room for 10 minutes, talk to your people (spouse, friends, siblings, anyone). If its work related (which mine was to start) - speak up. No one is going to protect you but you. If it is personal related - also speak up. Your family / friends / loved ones do not want you to fail. They will help you if need be.

I think I may be almost healed on the handling stress front. Yay Me!