Things here have been extremely hectic for almost exactly 22 months. (I can't believe my tiny babies are almost TWO. I know everyone says things like that but, SERIOUSLY.) I haven't done much in the way of taking breaks or asking for help in those 22 months and it turns out this may have been a little bit of why my recent health issues hung on for twelve weeks. Initially, I still think it was caused by hinky pre-washed bag lettuce but, since I was so run down and stressed out for so long before that, it took what felt like forever to get this close to feeling good on a regular basis again. I still have issues from time to time but, overall, I'm mostly back to normal. Or as normal as I get anyway.
When I started taking the possibility of stress related illness seriously, I did what I always do when I need more information: I started reading. I won't get into everything I read, but it became fairly obvious that the friends and family who were brave enough to suggest that I might need to relax a little to get better may be on to something.
One of the books I found most helpful was The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. The author has a very similar personality to mine, right down to an obsession with books & reading and this made it much easier to take her book and experience seriously. Normally when I'd think about reading a book on happiness or trying harder to be happy, I'd roll my eyes and dismiss the author as some kind of lazy, New Age weirdo with nothing better to do. I found the thought of specifically pursuing happiness or trying to improve your life when it's going alright extremely self-indulgent and a waste of time. Navel gazing? No thank you. Not for me. I've got chores to do and children to chase! Fortunately, Gretchen (the author) addressed the fact that she had very similar feelings about trying to be happier as well almost immediately in the book. In fact, it might even be on the book cover. Either way, my point is that her admission of skepticism was what got me going on the book and kept me going.
Long story short, by the time I finished the book, I'd decided that I have become a little too Type A and could probably benefit from a little more relaxation and happiness in life. Self-indulgent? Perhaps. Necessary? Very. I'm going to be using this blog as a way to record a lot of my experience and plans since it's just so darn appropriately named. And, hopefully by the time I've accomplished everything I've set out to do, it will also be 100% true.
Long story short, by the time I finished the book, I'd decided that I have become a little too Type A and could probably benefit from a little more relaxation and happiness in life. Self-indulgent? Perhaps. Necessary? Very. I'm going to be using this blog as a way to record a lot of my experience and plans since it's just so darn appropriately named. And, hopefully by the time I've accomplished everything I've set out to do, it will also be 100% true.
I'm loving what I hear on this post! I totally get what you mean about becoming "a little too Type A". I think in some ways you would almost HAVE to do that in order to have any semblance of order in your house with all of those tiny kiddos. It makes complete sense to me!
ReplyDeleteAt the very same time though, what you are saying about needing to relax more and stress-induced illness is also very real. Not only is it real, it is all the much harder to get rid of. I have another friend who has been dealing with that, and it is SO debilitating. She has been able to really do a lot with that by exercising in particular. She has gotten an enormous amount of respite with yoga. I know that can also be cliche and eye-roll-worthy, but it's also REAL.
Remember, more than one thing can be true at once - you can be organized and do some much-needed navelgazing at the very same time. You don't have to go completely off the deep end. ;)
I'm glad that you are thinking about stepping back and figuring out how to get YOUR needs met!
xoxoxoxox,
Angela