I am OVER this earthquake. I am over the aftershocks, and the continual wondering at the beginning of each one whether it will be big enough to need to duck under the table, or just stay put. Even the smaller tremors tie my stomach into knots. I’m over the stress. I’m over needing to boil my water, and not flush unless absolutely necessary. I’m over all the news about being nothing else except what I’m already living through.
I need something to help me take my mind off all this stuff for a while, but all everyone around here can talk, blog, twitter or facebook about is swapping their various war stories. I turn on the television and every channel is extended news coverage. My normal method of relaxing is a deep hot bath, but we’re being asked to conserve water.
The children are coping better than I am. I wish for the resilience of childhood. If I curl myself up in a little ball will it all go away? Please?
So I’m thinking now about different strategies for stress management. Not just the surface anxiety stuff – but the day in day out this isn’t going away in a hurry kind of stress. It can relate to other situations, not just natural disasters. Long term unemployment or sickness, for example, can also bring these kind of feelings.
So far I’m working on journaling, prayer and meditation, reading fiction (but NOT John Christopher’s “Wrinkle in the Skin” or C.S. Lewis’ “The Last Battle”). Normally finding someone to talk to helps, but everyone here is in the same boat so it’s harder to find someone not also emotionally involved.
What do you do to cope with stress and extended anxiety?
Hubby has resorted to self medication- wine and chocolate. Works for me.
ReplyDeleteChocolate. Go easy on the wine. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion: write it down. Write blog posts, or secret diary entries. Whatever. Just get it out of your head and onto paper (or pixels). Big things seem easier to cope with when you can view the whole thing on one piece of A4.