UNITED STATES—Life can be tough America. The older I get the more I am starting to realize that. I feel like as I age the level of responsibilities I take on continue to grow. I am going to just put it out there, I hate hospitals. They just give a sense of dread and I have literally spent about a month or more in hospitals the past three months visiting a sick loved one.
It is difficult, because you don’t want to say that you’re too tired or exhausted to visit because you don’t want someone to be disappointed, but at the same time your body is telling you otherwise. Trust me, my body wanted to do nothing more, but rest, but I committed and visited my loved one. Mind you, it was an unexpected medical crisis. I found myself fine one minute, then overwhelmed when the news hit.
I was working, had to take a moment and process the details and the realization that changes things for me moving forward. Mind you I had just spent nearly a week and a half two months prior visiting the hospital because of a medical crisis with a family member. I’ve been juggling dueling responsibilities with my jobs, school and just random situations that have been arising it seems every single week.
I don’t have enough time in a single day and it feels like I am just doing everything in my power to prevent burnout. My sleep pattern is not great because I sleep so light. The smallest sound can disturb my sleep and once I’m up it is difficult to go back to sleep. Lately, the big issue has been the sunlight. When the sun is peaking through the blinds at a quarter to five that is not a good thing. So, for at least the past month, I’m up at 6 a.m. if not earlier daily, and I’m desperately trying to get sleep to no avail.
The thing that I have discovered that my parents tried to instill in me as I aged is that stress is part of life, you just have to find a way to manage it. Some people have more stressors than others and they’re able to navigate better because they might have tools that others do not possess. For a lot of people money is a big stress, family, health, crime, education, the list goes on and on. You are going to have stress in life and you have to be able to deal with it, in a way that does cause you to spiral or literally burn out.
Exercise is helping a bit for me, but also just taking walks have been a major help in just taking my mind a way for a few minutes. I would admit if I had a bit more help from my siblings when it comes to helping my parent who is sick it would help massively. Why? It feels like I’m stretched thin because I’m doing so much, and my body and mind quite literally don’t take a break.
I don’t like echoing the word ‘No’ because I don’t want to disappoint people, but sometimes you have to choose yourself. What good are you to others if you are completely checked out? That tends to lead to frustrations and you sometimes lashing out at others. That is never the intent, but your stress level has reached a peak and you don’t know what else to do, but unleash it the best way you know how.
I think sometimes just writing how you feel is more effective than talking to someone else about it. Why? Sometimes people don’t care what you’re dealing with, they just don’t. If the talking cure is your method for dealing with stress use it to your advantage. If other hobbies calm and relax you indulge in them. Don’t allow pressure to get the best of you because stress can do it, and quite easily if you’re not dealing with it properly.
