How do you deal with Stress?

Stress is something we all experience on a daily basis. How we choose to deal with it is a life long, daily battle. I had a co-worker tell me the other day that I inspire her because I strive to maintain a good outlook every day. This is by no means because my life is easy! I have a job that doesn't pay much ore than minimum wage, I have over $45,000 in debt that I am working to pay off (maybe in 45 years at this point!), I am going through a divorce and custody battle, and I am a diagnosed bi-polar depressive. And these are just a few of the many issues I have! LOL

I don't have a easy life, but I also choose not to dwell. I choose to be happy. Many times I have to fight for that choice in my own head. It is easy to dwell on negative thoughts and emotions. I did it for many years, and my health and emotional stability paid for it. Through my hospitalization, and subsequent therapy, when I was diagnosed with bi-polar I learned to find my happy place. It wasn't easy, and it is something that I have to work at every day. These are some steps that I take, maybe you can find some things that will work for you.

1) Look at who is around you. I looked at the people around me ad found out who lifted me up and who pulled me down. I focused on strengthening my relationships with the people that strengthened me. As for the people that pulled me down, some I distanced my self from as much as I could, and others I cut out of my life completely.

2) Plan your stress away. Lear to schedule your stress time. Yes some things are so important that it is hard to think about anything else, like having to find a new place to live on a short time frame, but it isn't going to solve anything to continually stress over it. Set aside the needed time to deal with the issue and let it go until that time. You need to find someplace to live? Schedule 1 hour a day to devote to that solution and search for listings and call on them. You need to figure our how to feed your kids this week? Schedule a time to find the local food pantries and then schedule an appointment. Need a new job? Schedule a time to update your resume and do job searches. If you have a plan, you can release some of the stress, knowing you are doing everything you can.

3) You've been bad. Go take a time out!  At times we all get on edge and that last little ting sends us over the edge. When our kids do this we send them to a time out and make them think about what they have done. Who does this for us? If it is extreme enough, the cops will, but I hope it never gets that far! When you catch yourself on that edge, give yourself a time out. Regroup, gather your wits about you, calm down, and think about if this is helping you.

4) Fill your own cup! There is a saying about how can you share with others when your cup is empty. A lot of us count on others to fill our cups, but really we need to take responsibility to do this ourselves. What is it that you enjoy? What makes you happy? For me I have discovered many thing that help. At hot bubble bath, working on an art project, photography, cooking, and most recently blogging. Use that thing/s to help you refill your emotional happiness.

5) Fake it till you make it! I am NOT a morning person, and I do have bad days! However, my shift at a national drug store chain starts at 7 am. My customers routinely comment on how cheerful and in a good mood I am in all the time. I just fake it till I am in a good mood. I have personally found the truth in the theory that if you fake a good mood it will help you get to that spot. The reasoning I have found in this is that by acting in a good mood it elevates the mood of those around me, which in turn elevates my mood. I make people around me smile, and "fill their cup", which in turn then they do the same for me. Also, knowing I made someone elses day better, not worse, helps me feel good about myself.

6) Sometimes you just have to be silly! Laughter is the best medicine! Acting silly and being a dork can help you improve your mood. I am sure that the people at the monitoring headquarters of our company think I am insane if they see some of the things I do on the monitors LOL "I like to move it, move it" and when certain songs come on (such as the one above mentioned) I will dance around like a dork while I am working. It not only gets my blood moving, but makes my customers and co-workers laugh at the fun I can have while working.

These are just some of the things that work for me. This list is by no means inclusive. Find what works for you to help reduce your stress and improve your happiness. Go out and find your happy place, but if you need some help in the mean time, feel free to borrow mine!

Welcome to my blogging adventure

So I'm starting to try out this blogging thing. Not sure what all this blog will be about , I have a crazy life and that is what the topic of this blog will be. It could cover any number of topics. I will give you a overview of my life at this point so you can see if you can figure out the direction this blog will go LOL. Because I have no idea. 

So someday I would love to be a stay at home mom again. This time having it be by choice, not by illness. I did love it though. For now I am a full time working mom of a wonderful, sometimes, 13 year old daughter, and a 8 year old close enough to step son. I hate the term step son, so this is just so that you can understand, I will here on out refer to him as my son.  I am going through a divorce right not, and I just moved in with my boyfriend at the beginning of July. We are combing families. Right now I am fighting for custody of my daughter, and he has full time custody of his son. This is creating the joy of two only children learning to live together. We moved to a small town, but the only thing that we could find that was in our price range, and had the space we needed was in a trailer park. The joys and stresses that come with life and growing up and all that fun stuff. That will definitely be topics of blogs. 

I work full time at a menial job making way less than I should be. I have a associates degree, but can't seem to find a job in my field in the joyous Michigan economy. So I am looking and my job search might be a topic of blogs. 

I am also a crafty person. I don't think I would consider myself an artist, but other people do lol. I love to craft, so that is where my Pinterest blog comes in. I am going to be trying different things I find on there and try them out. I have another blog on that topic..

I also love to cook. Here again I will be finding recipes and trying them out and you can find that info on my Pinterest blog. 

I am also on a tight budget. I don't make a lot, so for me making every penny stretch is an important thing. . That may be a blog topic.

Other topics that may be covered; my Pinterest blog, blogging in general, learning how to blog, life, the universe, and everything. 

Welcome to my blogging adventure. 

Nicci J