Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Talk To Me – STRESS!!!!!


One reason I have avoided blogging the past few months is because I have literally LOST MY MIND.  And I mean literally, not figuratively. It is gone and I am slowly finding pieces of it but I don’t know if I will ever find all of my mind again.  Now I have heard that losing your mind is common when you are pregnant (pregnancy brain), but for me this is not an uncommon occurrence when I am just stressed….and let me tell you, I have been feeling it lately.  Yes, I am sure the pregnancy has something to do with my absentmindedness, but with the pregnancy also comes the stresses/concerns as well as all the other everyday stresses I had going on before this. 

Basically, the “I just have a lot on my mind” excuse is going on with me.

For the last 6-8 months or more I have had some level of stress/concern in my life and it is now truly affecting my daily life.  It is always a surprise as to what I will say, not say, or even do.  We have all been there, right?!  When the stresses of our life can cause us to feel like we had a lobotomy.   I would try to write blogs and nothing would come out.  I would read blogs and then forget what I just read or have no idea what to write.  I would try to be funny, whether on the blogs, facebook, twitter, or even in person and while in my mind I thought I was funny either nothing would come out right or worse people would get a series of words that vaguely resembled what I was trying to say but that made NO sense what-so-ever.  All this was usually followed by long awkward pauses from not just me, but the person on the receiving end of my gibberish. 

I can't even form complete sentences.  It's  more like “so do you want….” And then I forget what I am saying and try to remember it for 20 minutes, and then forget what I was trying to remember.  I even do stuff and forget what I am doing in the middle of it “Hey Terry/Kristen, why did I get up from the couch and come into the dining room?!”  And of course there is the forgetting where I put things.  Honestly, I now need an alarm on my keys.  And my favorite is not once but twice I grabbed a granola bar and threw the granola bar away while heading out of the kitchen with a wrapper in my hand. Riiiight.

I am really trying hard now that I am pregnant to worry less (HA – if you know me you know this isn’t happening), to not get myself so stressed, and just try to relax.  Easier said than done, no?!   I tried making lists, but found I was losing those.  I did go out and get a big calendar for our wall and started putting EVERYTHING, even when bills are due, on this calendar which has cleared a little space in my head.  But my head is still full of things that can easily stress you out…even just talking about it stresses me out!!  Once I get over this cold and can actually breathe again, I am going to start walking.  I am hoping that by trying to organize what I have going on AND take even 30 minutes of the day just to ease my mind it may help.  We’ll see though, it is easy to say you are going to make time for something but harder to actually do it!

So question – how do YOU deal with stress?  When you just have so much going on and what seems like no time to handle everything and you feel pulled in a 100 directions.  How do you make sense of it all and how do you de-stress?!

3 comments:

  1. Big hug to you my friend! *Try* to take it easy! ;)

    I had a tough time when the girls were about 2 years old - I sort of hit a wall and went into a manic mode where I felt like I couldn't function because my mind was going in a zilion directions. I even went to the doctor to ask for help! I was put on anxiety medication! It helped A LOT because it helped to clear out some of the clutter in my head because I wasn't focusing on so many things at once, but rather just focusing on things that I should be focusing on at the time I should be focusing on them. The meds sort of jump-started my system again and got me going in the right direction.

    The other thing I did to de-clutter my brain was give myself an hour a day to just chill and do something mindless. After the girls go to bed I hide out and have my own time. I usually end up sewing or doing something with my hands. I feel productive during my time because I am aking something but I'm also able to free my mind and work through my thoughts. It has helped a lot! I have my moments now but I'm much less stressful than I ever was!

    Maybe you could take up a crochet project? Just sit and crochet for a little bit to see if that helps?

    Hang in there lady!

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  2. huge hug to you. sorry to hear that life has been so stressful, but if nothing else i'm here to say that you're not alone. i haven't blogged so many times since all i really would have to say is that i'm stressed or anxious.

    i wish i had good advice, but i'm in need of it just like you are. i'm not so good at stopping to figure out a way to relieve stress. so i look forward to hearing others' thoughts.

    again, hug to you. : )

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  3. Wendy, I was just thinking I need to get back to crocheting. I miss it and it does help with the stress. I am sure I can also find lots of cute stuff to make for the baby! I am also glad to hear you are finding YOU time and back on track with de-cluttering your brain. I think that is part of my problem, I don't think my brain EVER shuts off. I am always thinking, even when I wish I wasn't.

    TL - I am sorry you are stressed, HUG to you too. I think so many of us our stressed and it sucks! I thought the older I got the less stress I would have...not so much. My husband says if I didn't worry so much it about things I can't control stress would be easier to handle....but how the heck do you not worry so much!! :)

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