Friday, January 9, 2015

Stress: Part 1

I have held jobs since the 80s and have worked full time since graduating from college back in 1992. I'm 44 years old - I'll save you the speculation and the math. Anyway, for the past ten years or so my job has carried with it a great deal of stress. It's important to note here that I wasn't/am not a doctor, soldier, air traffic controller, fire fighter or police officer. When I went to work I didn't exactly face life or death (my own or other people's) in the way that people in those professions do. Regardless I had a great deal of responsibility and faced daily numerous challenges front the small and annoying to full on what I would call disasters. From this I experienced a moderate (you be the judge when I describe the symptoms) stress.

Like I am sure many people do, I blamed almost every manifestation of stress on my job. The dialogue in my head went something like this.

1. I don't sleep well because I am stressed about work.
2. I make bad food choices because I am at work and feeling stressed or hard a hard day/week, etc.
3. I bite my nails because I am stressed from work.
4. My skin looks bad and doesn't glow like it should because I am stressed from work.
5. I will probably get cancer or some other disease due to the stress I feel from work.
And from the extra gross category:
6. I have a bald spot on the top of my head about he size of a nickel that I attribute to stress from work, No, I am not going to show you a picture. No, I have not been to the doctor but my hairdresser and I diagnosed it as being stress related and I will not be seeing the doctor about this due to concerns raised above in item 5. Finally, I style my hair in such a way that this spot is not visible.

So I wonder now that I won't be working will I be largely stress free? Will my skin glow like Kim Kardashian's skin? Will my nails and hair be thick and strong? Will I jump out of bed each morning with a smile after a solid 8 hours of interrupted sleep?

We will see. I wanted to share my "symptoms of stress" now while they are fresh in my mind. I'll keep you posted. I should add that after several weeks of not working I am writing this post at 1:40 a.m. I couldn't sleep!



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Hello and thank you for taking an interest in my blog. This blog tells the story of some big life changes. First, my husband and I have just moved to Geneva, Switzerland for a few months following a few years of living in Johannesburg, South Africa. The two places could not be more different. I'm excited to share our adventures, challenges and insights with you! My thoughts and opinions are my own.