Stress

So after taking a look at my weekend to-do list and suddenly feeling an overwhelming feeling and starting to feel sick again. I am beginning to think this last week was a stress induced sickness (of some sort). I feel so overwhelmed by my list of things to do and not nearly enough time to do them.

When I was staying at home, I would have all week to take care of the house. Make sure the kitchen is clean, living room is vacuumed, kids room is kept orderly, laundry done and put away, etc. Now that I am working, I am trying to cram all of the above plus some into one day or one weekend. This constant pace is overwhelming and I am trying to find ways to cope with it all.

So today, instead of buckling down and trying to do anything, I sat down at my computer and pulled up the Church website. I felt guided as I was clicking on links as I'm not as familiar with the new layout. I landed on a page on most common issues facing families today. And I saw "Stress" as a title. I clicked on it, read the first article about exercise. Yes, exercise is good, but I don't feel like I have time for it. But the next article touched me so I thought I'd share. Mostly, for me to sort out my thoughts, but also maybe it can help someone else as well.

Here's the link to the article - its called a Balanced Life by Brent L. Top

I am one of those people that seems to just pile on and on and on the list of things that I need to do. And when I get one thing done, 10 more seem to appear on my list. I want to do everything for everyone... serve, take care of my children, help them to learn new things, be a good wife, be a good church member, go to all kinds of activities, take care of the house, work outside the home, etc. However, this stress has been way too much for me. After reading the article, I realize that I have been forgetting some of the most important things. My kids will not remember how clean the house was, my husband will be happy regardless of whether the kitchen is clean or not, the Lord will not condemn me for not vacuuming. It was so easy to remember where to gather my strength when John was in the hospital. I knew I had to pray or else I would not be able to make it through it all. So instead of working on my normal to do list, I am going to make a different kind of to-do list -- so here is my new list

• Spend quality time with both of my kids each and every day
• Spend time enjoying being around my husband instead of fighting over chores that need to be done
• Praying for the strength to enjoy life and not just endure it
• Remembering to study my scriptures, a conference talk, or an article from a church magazine (because it reminds me where my focus should be) - so expect more reflective posts like these
  
• Taking the time out for Dyanna, cause sometimes "quiet me time" is necessary
• Not stress so much about the small stuff that no one will remember a week from now, much less years from now

As a last note - here is another stress article that has some helpful information
Welcome Thoughts for the Over-Involved by Eric Stephan

And if you read this, then you are a good friend. Thank you :)