Hello Dear Readers,Stress sucks. But you already knew that. The last few months of my life have been full of it. So much so that I found myself sitting in my office close to tears the other day just listening to Anna Nalick's melancholy masterpiece, "Breathe," and literally trying to follow her instructions. Innn and outtt. Innnn and outtt. Marriage. Children. Health. Workload. Finances. Life is suffocating sometimes. Just... breathe. I found myself in the lyric:
'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cableThere I sat- fighting back the tears. After a few unwelcome interruptions from phone calls, emails, text messages and an illtimed question from my secretary, I took my burdens on the road. To the bathroom. You know you're stressed when you find yourself standing in a stall at work at least twice a day doing breathing exercises. If your workplace is anything like mine, standing in the bathroom taking deep breaths
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe
Like I said, stress sucks. Extreme stress can be crushing. But perspective can make the difference between a breakdown and a breakthrough (forgive that last Oprahism- I'm tired and need to bring this post home before I go to bed). I found a quote that was a turning point for me. Somewhere on some inspirational website I stumbled upon while searching the Internet, I found it: According to random sources, the great Lena Horne once said, "It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it." Thanks Lena--Well said (if she actually said it) . Just looking at stress this way has helped tremendously. Stress will always be present, but we can't just breathe our way through it. At some point, we have to shift the weight of it all from our own shoulders and trust God to bear the load as he instructs us in Psalm 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7. So much easier said than done.
This is an ongoing process for me. I'll keep you posted.
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Okay, I'm late reading this-about 11 months late. Now that I have discovered Pinterest which has become an addiction in my love of visuals and creativity, blogs have been on the back burner. I had to chime in because it's so true. One thing that encourages me is that I am not alone in experiencing these times in my extremely blessed life. Thank you for sharing this.
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