Sometimes life feels unbearable, heavy, exhausting, and overwhelming.
A feeling that if one more thing falls on your plate or if the check-out lady at Publix looks at you the wrong way you might just lose it.
Stress, upon stress, upon stress. Life, circumstances, job, family, and every responsibility in between, they all add up.
Here’s a few areas to think through when life has you beat.
5 Areas to Evaluate When Stress is High
1. Where in Your Life Do You Need Margin?
We wake up, often in a mad dash to eat something, feed the kids, and get out the door on time.We head to work where a string of tasks awaits us, only to rush home, sort out the kids, and try to make it to bed by 11:00pm if we’re lucky. Then we do it all over again. No margin and no room to breathe.
Where can you find margin in your life? Even in the littlest of places.
2. Is Your Career Depleting YourJoy?
Maybe you’re not in your dream job, maybe you’re not even sure what your dream job is. That’s ok or let it be ok. Give yourself permission to go on the journey of discovering what you love about your job, identifying your strengths and noticing your biggest stressors.
Write down your work wish list and dream a bit about what could be.
3. Have You Dealt with PreviousTrauma/Toxic Situations?
As the Body Keeps the Score tells us unless we fully feel and work through the pain, trauma, and emotions of our past it lives in our bodies and will manifest itself in other ways. As much as we would like to shut the door on the painful days of our past, it’s worthwhile to do the work.
Find a friend, good therapist and/or coach and give yourself permission to work through them.
4. Are Your Finances All Out ofWhack?
It’s no secret money causes stress, wondering if we have enough? Wondering about retirement and if the car was always making that noise? And realizing Sally needs new shoes AGAIN. It all adds up.Quickly your money can control you vs you controlling your money.
Start a budget, download an expense app, talk to your financial advisor.
Do what you can to tell your money what to do.
5. Do You Have People & Environments that Bring You Down?
I was talking with a friend the other day who was once again complaining about the same person. I said, “Maybe you need less time with her.” Enter…boundaries, distance, and permission to say no, or not know when needed.
Nothing gets better on its own.
Wherever your stress is coming from, be sure to take care of YOU.
You’re worth it!