sssStressss

Don’t worry, we have everything completely out of control!

Thank you to everyone who hearted or forwarded last week. We are spreading love and stomping ignorance.

So many sources of stress (we’ve already covered invisible workload, aging parents, weight gain, sleep and it’s only freakin’ March) and they’re piling up in midlife just as our hormonal mitigator is leaving the party. Estrogen used to reduce the effects of cortisol but now even stressors we’re familiar with are kicking our butts in new and exciting ways.

Gotta talk to your boss about something? You’ve done it a million times and yet now, your palms (and everything else) are sweaty as your heart rate goes through the roof. This shift (“I used to be able to handle this, why am I freaking out?”) can make us feel less competent and more crazy.

Or maybe you’ve got some fancy new stress-induced habits. Our fave is rumination, where we revisit old injustices and bad choices over and over, triggering our body to relive that stress. That argument at Thanksgiving eight years ago just keeps giving!

And maybe perimenopause symptoms are making stress worse: brain fog (when’s that meeting again?), anxiety about having a hot flash, mood swings that make you want to simultaneously snap someone’s puny little neck and burst into tears.

Before you know it, we’re stressed about being stressed. It makes us want to go live in a tiny house in the forest with our animal friends.

Shameless Action

BEFORE you know the shit’s gonna hit the fan: give yourself more time to prep for that big meeting. Re-prioritize the to-do list. Lower your impossibly high bar of expectations (holla perfectionists!). Practice deep breathing to settle the nervous system.

DURING a stressful time, don’t get sucked into the bullshit of multitasking. Evil, nasty myth to make us think we should be doing more. Monotasking is the new black - focus on one thing for a short interval then take a break. You will get more done, we swear.

AFTER, there’s a big one that works every time: REST. It’s not a reward, it’s a strategy. Rest makes hard work and getting out of bed (more) possible. Sometimes, it’s not feasible and we get that. But if you can, you should.

Final random dunno-why-it-works-but-it-does: Give shit away. Is it the warm fuzzy glow of generosity? Is it the joy of being able to actually close the closet door? Eh, who cares - just try it.

Next time: You see their dirty socks every day and hear those chewing sounds at every meal