Problems Cause Worry & Stress

 Often times I have a problem that is stressing me out. I worry over it constantly. Especially if it is a very serious problem. Though aren't all problems serious? It takes up my whole day and I go to sleep with it on my mind. Some problems are the type you really can't do anything about. They take time to resolve themselves. Besides I can't change the outcome of it no matter what I do or don't do. So instead of wasting time with worry I am becoming more productive. I pray about my problem whatever it is then let God take over from there. He knows what he is doing.

Some problems have a way of working themselves out on their own. I will worry and worry and then some time later the problem is gone. If I forget about it because it is not so prevalent at the moment I realize it is not important any longer. I like that type of problem. Wish they all were like that. Life will always have problems that stress you out. Stress is the worst thing for your health. What are you going to do? For me the answer is to keep busy. When I am busy doing things I don't worry so much. So that is what I am doing.  My problems are not so bad compared to the problems others have.  

Keto Chow Apple Pie Ice Cream

Being a carb addict and emotional eater is a big problem if you are dealing with problems in your life. I have learned that using food to soothe your state of mind is not going to solve anything. I no longer snack or binge on anything. Not even ice cream, which was always my go to in those cases. If I want ice cream, I plan for it in advance. I use Keto Chow meal replacement shakes for ice cream. I can eat the whole pint of ice cream for one of my meals and it is okay. It is more than okay since it is a healthy alternative. Keto Chow has a really good taste so it does not have that "diet" taste that most low calorie or low fat ice creams have. Plus it is better for you. It is my belief that if you or someone you love or care for is still drinking Ensure or Boost, then it is time to change that. I spent many years working as a CNA and seeing what is in those drinks is scary!

One way I cope with my problems is by listening to music. It really does help. I like to color in adult coloring books while the music is playing. It gives me that time to think and reflect on whatever is troubling me. Sometimes I make problems out of things that are not my problems at all. My mother told me not to worry about something until there was something to worry about! Boy, that sure is the truth. Wasting all that time and becoming stressed over situations that never happen. I see a lot of people are doing that. Worrying and stressing, that is. Usually about things in the news. That is the media's intention. 

  

In the park!

Living in an apartment building for seniors and disabled as I do now, I see a lot of people get upset by rumors that get passed from one person to another. Just like the old telephone game. It gets worse and worse as it is passed along. People make assumptions based on how a prospective tenant dresses or looks. Nobody takes it into account what that person's financial situation, illness or disability is. I looked a sight myself till I got moved in and was able to have my hair cut and new clothing. 

Copyright © 2023 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2023  Kathleen G. Lupole

Living With Stress and What To Do About It

Everyone eventually will live with some kind of stress in their lives. We all handle it differently. They say stress is the cause of most diseases and I believe it. I am presently going through a very stressful situation in my life and I can feel the result of it in my body. When I think back on my life, I realize I have had many, many stressful situations. Thank goodness they were not all at the same time! It seems to me that your body says, "I know you are weak right now so time to let something attack you." 

When I am stressed or worried I write out a list of all the things I could or need to do to get rid of it. Can I do them? No, not always. Sometimes.....more times than not, it is out of my control. I pray about it and put it in God's hands and then make an effort not to worry. Does that work? Often it does. Not always. Not always the way I expect or want it to. Sometimes I have to wait longer and I keep on  praying. Other times my prayer is answered but not exactly in the way I hoped. Yet after a period of time it turned out way better than I had hoped. Every cloud has a silver lining!

Another thing I do when I have a burden to bear or on my mind is to look around and see how many others are so much worse than I am. There is always someone worse off. I have a comfortable home, food to eat and everything I need. I am not in need of anything really. Until I moved here, I could not say that. So I try not to complain to anyone about any problem I have presently. Life is funny that way. Once you make a change then those other problems you had seem to drift away or not be important any longer.

Problems that sneak up on you are hard to address when in the beginning you don't see them. Did you ever notice something then put it out of your mind to have it become a big problem later on? Yes, that is the kind of problem I am talking about. Those are the types of problems I seem to have all of the time. If I had recognized it for what it was in the beginning, it would not be quite so bad presently. Yet I do that over and over through out my whole life. 

So what do I do about it besides pray? I make a list of the problems I am facing and then arrange them in order of importance. Actually not really importance, since every one of them is important but in order of which one absolutely must be done first. It is like when you are remodeling a room on your home and you find the ceiling or walls are rotten and have to be completely rebuilt before you can get to the remodeling project you were so excited about. I had that happen so I know what I am talking about.

Once you have a plan of action, it decreases your stress a bit. Then start working on your list and doing the things you need to do. A bad one for me is making appointments and telephone calls. I have always had a phobia of making telephone calls and I know that sounds funny since I worked as a receptionist in two accounting firms and as a  telephone representative at the Home Shopping Network. Honestly, I don't know how I did that! To this day, it is the hardest thing I have to do. I love email for that reason. Stick to your plan and if you need to add more to your list then do so. Keep it where you can see it and view it several times a day. Try it and see if it helps. 

Copyright © 2021 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2021  Kathleen G. Lupole

Busting Your Stress With Simple Steps

Peaceful Forest flowers

Stress is a common word we hear all the time. It is that feeling of strain and pressure. Sometimes you can put your finger on what is causing your stress. Sometimes you can't and don't even know it is stress. You just know it is there. Other times you are very well aware of the cause of your stress, even though you do not know how to rid yourself of it. It can be caused by a number of different things going on in your life, such as a job, a family member, finances, not enough time to do things you need to do, other people or negative feelings about yourself. Stress can fester over time if you do not try to deal with it yourself. If you let it go on for too long it can also cause your body to break down and cause various health conditions. I feel that is your body giving you a warning, saying, "Deal with your stress right now!"

Watching the birds is restful for me.

Chronic stress I feel is when you are living with a situation that goes on and on and you can't get rid of it or come up with a solution to end it. Maybe it is caused by a family member's illness or their mental state. Living with others who are the cause of your stress is the hardest to deal with. If it was your neighbors, you could move. Not likely when it is coming from your family. Sometimes you cannot identify what or who is causing your stress. Maybe it is just because you do not want it to be what it is. Like if it is your spouse or child. You can make your feelings known to them about what they are doing to you. If it makes a difference and they try to cooperate with you on eliminating the stress that would be good. But it is not always the case.

Living in a peaceful place is helpful.

Years ago I attended Al-Anon meetings because my 2nd husband was a bad alcoholic. They taught me how to "distance" myself from him to rid myself of the stress of living with him. It worked very well. It also helped me to be able to leave him. I saw no reason to stay with an alcoholic when I didn't even drink myself. I told him when I left that I did not want to watch him kill himself and that is exactly what he did. Dying before he was 52. There are times when you will not want to eliminate someone from your life even if they are the cause of your stress. Such as your child, parent or a sibling and maybe your spouse. 

The bridge to my house.

Learning to deal with your stress by going to counseling is a good way to get started. Unfortunately, at this time I cannot do so. In the past I have done just that and it helped me very much. So I have discovered stress busters that work for me. I am not saying they will work for you but it may be worth it to give a try. Taking care of yourself in any way you can will make a difference. We all have to be selfish at times in our lives. Being a wife and mother is a job that does not come with retirement age limit. It goes on and on. Being miserable, unhappy and stressed out will not benefit anyone, even whoever is causing your stress, but least of all you. You count! You are important too.

Patches

These are the ones I recommend:

1. Music! Yes listening to music is my #1 stress buster. It works for me. I have an MP3 player with all of my favorite classic rock music that I grew up with. Listening to Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd before I go to bed relaxes me so much. 

2. Writing. In a journal, working on my blogs, poetry or eBooks relieves my stress immensely. If you are not a writer, don't let that stop you. Get a notebook and just write whatever comes to your head. I can write for hours by hand and it is my best writing by far. I have kept a journal for years and I can look back at any time and see how I dealt with something in the past.

3. Reading. Immerse yourself in a novel for a few hours. Let it take you away from the problems that are stressing you out. I love to read and do it every day. My ideal vacation would be staying somewhere where all I had to do was to read books. Since I do not own a television or watch any type of television shows, reading is my entertainment. I read aloud to my husband in the evening and I notice it takes his stress or anger away. I try to do it every night.

4.Bake something! Yes, I do that quite often. I get into my recipe and forget about everything else for awhile. Taking pictures of it in the process to later post on my blogs or in a future eBook. 

5. Go outside. Take a walk. Visit a park or a wooded area. I love the forest and live in the middle of the state forest. It is my favorite outdoor area. My previous house had a huge hay field directly behind our yard and I would get all stressed out over something and would stop what I was doing and head out to the field. Walking around the edge several times. So relaxing. I spend a lot of time in my garden and that takes all the stress away. Working out there and sitting on a bench in the garden is my thinking time. Nobody bothers me out there and I look forward to that time. I miss it in the winter.

6. Exercise. No surprise there. I like to use dumbbells and work out using a weight bench. That kind of stress on your body is good for it! I also have a recumbent bicycle that I love riding because I can read or mediate at the same time. Lately I have not been able to use it due to my knees being so bad. I am in the process of trying to correct them and will get back on my bike when I do. Any kind of exercise you enjoy is highly recommended.

7.  Meditate. Taking the time to meditate is well worth it. Find a quiet relaxed area away from all the hustle and bustle of your everyday life. Even if you only spend 10 minutes doing it. Do not think about your problems at that time. Just concentrate on your breathing.

8. Take a bubble bath or spend some time, if you have access to one, in a sauna or hot tub. I used to have a hot tub at two different houses I lived in and that was the best. Stress be gone! A sauna will remove all the toxins from your body and make you feel renewed.

9. If you can afford to, go to a bed and breakfast somewhere quiet by yourself. Or camping. It is rewarding to spend time alone by yourself. You do not have to talk. Just you and your own thoughts. Don't have to take care of anyone else.

10. If you own pets, sometimes they are the best stress busters I know of. My pet house rabbit is such a peaceful little fella. He gives me much needed comfort many times through out my day. Cats, dogs, horses, chickens or any pet you have can perform this job quite easily. It is part of their nature, to comfort you (Rabbit told me so!).

Rabbit getting his favorite treat, banana, from my husband.

I hope you can find something useful in my stress busters for your stress. It is not meant to replace counseling if that is what you need. It may get you started and help you get through your day. If you feel you need something more, consider getting professional help. It worked for me. Good luck!

All Text and Photographs Copyright © 2018 Kathleen G. Lupole

Courage To Change The Things I Can

Today I worked on listing books in my Bonanza booth. I am going to try to get 1000 items in my booth for sale before my birthday, which will be in June. So I have been pretty busy. In between listing books, I was in my kitchen cleaning. That is something you can never get around unless you don't eat. So when I got done, I decided I would get us some Chinese take-out for supper, then I would get a break from cooking. Nope, that is not as easy as I thought. Our closest Chinese restaurant is closed. Maybe it went out of business?  A few weeks ago as I sat in there waiting for my order, they were pretty busy. So it must be some other issue. I hope they reopen soon. I had to make something quick, since now I was behind my schedule. We had hamburgers and that made my little girl, Nikita (dog) very happy.

God Grant Me Serenity To Accept The Things I Cannot Change,

I have decided not to stress myself out if I can't get a blog post written every day. I will not get stressed out if I don't get anything listed every single day on Bonanza. And I definitely WILL NOT get upset if I don't have a sale every day. Take it one day at a time, and just keep plugging along on this thing called life. Then one day, I will notice all the things I wanted to accomplish..........will be all finished and I have moved on to the next thing.

Courage To Change The Things I Can, And

Remember to take time for enjoying your life. Those moments really count. Later on that is what you will remember and talk about. If you have young children, take that time with them to make memories. My son is going to be 41 next month and that is what he likes to talk about.......our memories of things we did when he was a child.

Wisdom To Know The Difference.........

Make this year a year to remember, I am going to try to do that myself. I am calling myself, an "overcomer" and that is what I shall do. I shall overcome all obstacles I have to face in this coming year......and I have a few. What about you? Peace be with you..........

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole