What to do in times of high stress

I’ve been on vacation for about a week now.  Things are hard.  I miss my friends, my job, my life…

It feels as though shit is about to hit the fan.  But at the same time, not so much.  I don’t want to go into much detail until things sort themselves out.  But I will say this: I’m REALLY stressed out right now.

Life is hard.  Much harder than I ever thought possible.  Really difficult.

But I’m tough.  The tears come and go, but I’m strong.  And I can work through the difficulties and the adversities, and I will survive.

But right now, I just have to push through.

There’s a fantastic quote from Buffy – because if you didn’t know that I often quote my favorite TV shows, you should check out my other blog Shameless TV – that I really feel suits my mood at this very moment.  Actually, there are so many quotes that really suit the times AND my moods.  But I’ll stick with this one for now:

Buffy: I think horrible is still coming.  Right now, it’s worse.  I’m just trying to keep from dying.

Willow: Oh, Buffy.

Buffy: I can’t breathe, Will.  I feel like I can’t breathe.

Right now, things are hard.  But they will get easier.  They have to.  I’ve made some pretty difficult decisions, and now it’s time to back those decisions up.  It’s time to be an adult, and face life, and get through the hard times because they will get easier.  They have to.

I’ve been lucky so far.  I’ve had so much support, and so much help.  And I know if I asked, there would always be help and support.  And for that I am thankful. 

There are so many questions that are going to go unanswered.  So many things that are going to go undone.  And it’s okay.  It has to be.

But I will surive.

And now, gentle readers, I pose a question to you.  How do you deal with stressful situations, be it in life or love or work or whatever?  What is it that gets you through?  What keeps you going?  What pushs you along, and what helps you to survive?

Trying to remain calm

Because my day couldn’t possibly get any better… or any worse… Well, it wasn’t all that bad.  In hindsight, it’s just plain annoying.

I had a doctor’s appointment in Boston yesterday.  Due to some recent health issues, which you can read about here and here, I trekked all the way into Boston to see a specialist.  And he made me come back for a procedure.  So into Boston I went.

Actually, I had a pitstop in Lynn. 

Chriso was especially helpful yesterday.  Actually, he’s normally pretty good about helping me with stuff and making sure I’m taken care of.  I have no complaints.  But he had this brilliant idea that we should commute together to my mother’s house, where I was going there already, and he had to work a town over an hour later.  So it worked out nice.

We sat around and chatted with my mom, and laughed at my brother.  And then my mom and I went into Boston, and Chriso went to work. 

The rest of the day went great.  My procedure was fine.  We had dinner and rented movies, and slept.  It was probably one of my favorite nights.  Those usually occur when we’re just laying around and not doing anything but spending time together. 

But as awesomely great as yesterday was, today started off terribly.

First, I turned off BOTH my alarms.  I don’t have just one.  I have 2.  Because what if I accidentally turned one of them off?  Then I would have the other one as a backup.  And wouldn’t you know it, today I turned them both off.  I woke up late, knowing I would be late for work, which was fine, except that I needed to stop for gas. 

I rush to get dressed, and pull my hair back, and throw everything I need in my backpack.  Then, I reached for my keys.

…

NOTHING.  I had no keys.

I left my keys in Lynn.  At my mother’s house.  On her coffee table.  Which was not my purse.

I pretty much wanted to die.

Thank God Chriso was there, and thank God we just bought a new car because I definitely would have been out of luck, and this day would have gone much differently.

Best. Day. Ever.

I ended up having to take the convertible, which is never a bad thing, excpet Chriso was going to take it to a dealer and have them look at the roof, which isn’t broken, just slightly malfunctioning.  In the sense that it can go up and down, it just needs a little help.

But aside from all that, today has not actually gone all that badly.  I was a half hour late for work.  I had several voicemails when I came in, and a minor crisis to solve.  Life is good.