Day 9 - Relief!

As you know from yesterday's post, I was feeling a little overwhelmed with not hearing from M2. It felt like I was carrying around a burden - one that weighed a ton. At one instance the stress mounted and I felt like something was going to give.

This morning I slept in, oops! E missed the bus and was 30 minutes late to school. Despite that, I decided to still make an attempt at the gym. The 20 or so minutes I spent on the elliptical, pounding out the stress, allowed me some relief. Back in the fall I was spending a couple of hours daily in the gym. The days I didn't go in I would run it out on the pavement or on my treadmill at home. I was pretty much stress free during that time.

I, FINALLY, was able to hear M2's voice! Seriously, hearing M2's voice was something akin to a valve releasing in a too full air mattress! Instant release! It was so very nice to hear him! He is under a lot of stress as well. Working 20 hour days, learning a new job, dealing with hard to deal with people, and not being able to eat properly are all things he is facing right now. Things will inevitably calm down for both of us and then speed back up - we decided that we were going to have to do some important things to help ourselves while this stress is present.

We both decided to be committed to speaking up and being firm about what we can and cannot handle. This is hard for both of us. I never want to hurt anyones feelings or disappoint and M2 is exactly the same. We both know that those are good qualities but that they can turn into something not so good! Sometimes for ourselves and our families, we have to say "I can't". It reminds me of something M2 and I did our first year of marriage. We wrote our "I can'ts" on a piece of paper and took them outside and buried them. We may have taken the not saying "I can't" a little too far! If someone really loves you then they will understand, "I can't". (Easier typed than believed!)

For myself, I am committed to getting back into the gym as well. I made 2 appointments with my trainer this week and I already feel better about my stress level!

The point to remember, within all of this rambling, is that a lot of the times there are ways we can help ourselves rid stress. Sometimes we need to just step back and figure out what those are! Maybe it's exercising for you, or a long bath, a glass of wine, a long talk on the phone, a good cry, whatever it is - implement it regularly!

And please (as a friend of mine like's to say on her blog) "don't hear what I am not saying"! I feel like it is of the utmost importance to rely on God for the strength to get through stressful times. But it is God who has designed our bodies to release stress in these various ways! I am just saying take advantage of His perfect design!