Busy Little Bee

This week, I feel like a busy little bee buzzing all over the place. Between prepping for and teaching lessons, trying to cook dinner every night, keeping the house somewhat tidy, getting myself dressed every day (what, you don't have trouble with that?) and practicing for an audition on Saturday, I'm feeling a bit stressed.

I was hoping to publish another outfit post today, but that will have to wait because somehow in the busy-ness I forgot to take photos.

So instead, I thought I would talk a little bit about how I handle stress. You see, I didn't used to handle it very well. In fact, a little over a year ago I had to go see a psychologist who recommended medication for my anxiety issues. That was kind of a big surprise to me, I didn't realize my anxiety was that big of a deal. Then again, I was having panic attacks on a regular basis which were what caused me to see a doctor in the first place.

Well, I didn't want to start taking medication, so I decided instead to really focus on alleviating unnecessary stress. Part of that plan was to quit my 40+ hour a week job to start teaching music, something I am thankful for on a daily basis. Doing what I love to do, instead of spending 50 hours a week working and commuting at a job that was a bad fit for me, is an automatic de-stresser. When I was working full-time, I was still teaching voice on the side and taking lessons myself to keep up and it was just getting to be too much.

In addition, I started using my planner again to keep track of everything, learning to say "no" to certain things (anyone else have a hard time with that?), spending time daily in God's word, and taking time to get the right amount of sleep every night. Even though I still deal with stress on a regular basis, it's definitely to a much lesser extent. I feel like a different person. I haven't had a panic attack in over a year, praise the Lord!

When I notice my stress levels creeping up, it's usually due to one of those issues. So I go back and look at what I did wrong- do I really need to hang out with friends 3 days in a row? Can I move one to the next week? I know, it's a rough life. =) But I tend to over-commit to things that are important to me; family, work, church, friendships, music events.

How about you? Are you a high-stress person, or do you handle life in a stride? I would love to hear your comments and thoughts on dealing with stress. One of my biggest tips? Grab a cup of decaf chai, and take a few minutes to sip some tea and breathe deeply. Instant calm-in-a-cup!