Seven Stress Busters

The month of May has proved to be very full – to the point of overload. My focus of late has been work related. In the month of May alone, I’ve participated in interviewing several candidates to replace me when I leave at the end of July, I’ve scheduled almost all of our June and July shows (this process takes many hours from start to finish and I squeezed into 3 weeks what normally takes 6-8 weeks all by the grace of God), and I’ve said goodbye to working with my boss of seven years as she’s stepping into retirement (well – that’s probably not an accurate word for her – but for lack of a better word I’m using it). She’s not only my boss, but a friend, a mentor, and someone I love dearly. Char Binkley, I will miss you so much! But I’m so glad this isn’t a goodbye for forever. You better bet I’ll be bugging you from time to time. Bug! Bug! Bug! Bug! Bug! (That's kind of an inside joke between the two of us...but I couldn't resist!)

So as you can see, I’ve put forth a great amount of emotional, mental, and physical energy – often times working around nine hours a day and eating at my desk rather than taking a lunch break. Mind you, this is not my employers requirement, it’s what I’ve felt I need to do in order to leave them in as good as position as possible before I leave at the end of July.

In addition, I went on a couple weekend road trips this month, and started purging a few items. I’m calling it Purging: Round 1. My roomies humored me and helped clean out my closet. I brought each piece of clothing out and they voted whether it should go in the “keep pile”, the “goodwill pile”, or the “try on pile and we’ll decide after that”.  It was a huge help to have their opinions. Otherwise, I might have been tempted to “keep it for later.” You know how that goes. I was quite pleased with how much I was able to discard. Check it out!

Unfortunately, I’ve not had any capacity left for working on logistical things that need to be arranged prior to my launch to California this fall. Things like scheduling final doctor appointments, finding a place to live in California, finding roommates, looking into part-time job options for the fall, etc. The list goes on and on. As you can imagine, stress management has been pretty important lately. So I thought I’d share a few things that have been helping me in this transition. Maybe you’ll find one or two you’d like to try.

1)      Spending time in the presence of Jesus – daily. This has been key in helping me stay centered on Christ instead of my mounting "to do list". I find that I’m lacking a lot these days and am very dependant on the Lord to give me everything I need for each new day. This is really a season of perseverance...I just keep focusing on Jesus asking Him to fill me up with what I'm lacking. He’s always faithful to give me exactly what I need when I need it. Things like strength, rest, grace, peace, and joy. I’m so thankful! One devotional that has been especially meaningful to me lately is Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. If you’re not a familiar with it, pick up a copy and start reading it! The devotionals are written as if Jesus was speaking directly to you – and it’s all based on scripture verses. It seems like each days devotional writing has been written specifically for me and for what I’m facing. I have several friends reading this same devotional and they say the same thing. Of those I know who are reading this book, I know that our lives are very different…so I truly believe anyone who picks up a copy of this book will feel like God is speaking directly to them. If you need encouragement and a word from the Lord, consider reading Jesus Calling. And even before that, consider reading from the Bible daily. That my friend is living and active. And if you read the Bible while asking God to speak to you through it, He most certainly will!

2)      Flowers! I can’t even begin to tell you what flowers do for my soul. Their beauty and fragrance bring a smile to my face and a twinkle to my eye. After a particularly long day at work this month I stopped by one of my favorite parks and allowed myself to be enveloped in the spring blooms all around me. I took several pictures as well. I love spring! I also planted some zinnias for the first time this year. I LOVE zinnias. So when I saw them sprouting (barely out the ground mind you) I literally jumped up and down and squealed in delight and anticipation of future blooms!

3)      Laughter! My roommates are a huge blessing to me in this area. There’s really never dull moment around our house, and I can always count on a good laugh when we’re all together. Thanks, Sarah and Christin, for keeping this place lively with laughter and fun!  I also can count on laughing until my stomach hurts when I’m with my best friend, Claire. It happened countless times last weekend alone!

4)      Taking a walk. Turns out my roomies also know a thing or two about the importance of exercise – not only for staying in shape, but for the psyche. Sometimes it takes convincing on their part, but more often than not they persuade me to take a walk with them. And I’m always glad they do! The conversation is always great, and they’re right, I feel better afterwards.

5)      Cooking. So I like to eat. And I like to cook. The other night I spent about an hour chopping veggies to make this fresh salsa. There’s something about doing mindless work with your hands that ends up being restful. When I was spent in every other way, I still had it in me to chop veggies. Interesting, huh? And I enjoyed it…especially the end result! I’ll post the recipe later…along with a few other recipes that are my “go to” recipes.

6)      Blogging. Yup, even now I have a ton I’d like to get done. But what am I doing? I’m blogging. It’s not work to me though. I enjoy it! And I need this outlet so I can proceed with the other chores that are ahead of me. Because of that, I’m giving myself permission to blog more often in the coming weeks…even when my “to do list” overflows. There’s just something about blogging that helps clear my mind.

7)      Drinking a cup of hot tea. Enough said.

How about you? What are some stress busters that work for you?

So tell me, how many toe socks does a girl need? I decided for NONE. They just aren't that comfortable!