Face It

I’ve been pretty stressed lately. AKA, the past week or so. It’s nearly the holidays, and, as we all do — I have lots going on.

Normally, I would probably have worked my way to oblivion through some form of quick dopamine hit / instant pleasure — but this time I didn’t.

Why? Well partly, because there literally wasn’t enough time. But more importantly, because I’m starting to pay attention.

When I’m feeling sad, happy, frustrated, excited, depressed — anything really — I’m recognizing it for what it is — and I’m moving on.

I understand what I need in these instances, or at least, through a lot of trial and error, I’m understanding more and more.

When I was feeling anxious about having time to get everything accomplished, as I often do after living in a scarcity mindset for so many years, I called my mom (um… she’s a saint). I called my mom and I ran through my to do’s before I left town for work / the holidays. I let her know I was feeling anxious about it all and she reassured me there WAS enough time.

That is what I needed. I needed to be honest about how I was feeling, and talk it out.

I didn’t need a piece of cake, a drink, to purchase a new sweater — I needed to address what was bothering me and move on.

And it worked.

I mean, I was still a little stressed and am still a little stressed, but I’m not in a mode of desperation and the world is crashing down and nothing is okay anymore.

I recognized it, and I dealt with it.

This is to say, if you’re working through some hard shit or you have emotions that you don’t deal with directly — maybe re-evaluate that strategy. It’s okay to get stressed, feel anxious, get tired, get happy, get mad — that’s what makes you so interesting — that’s what makes you human.

So this holiday, let’s not hide behind our problems and make ourselves worse in the long run through quick “fixes.” Let’s do what we need to do to feel even a little bit better today.

Because I for one want to enjoy my tequila on Christmas Eve & not (totally) regret it the next day (tequila on xmas eve is a thing, right?).