Stress

It feels like it has been forever since I have posted. I feel like I have written a zillion posts in my head, but nothing ever got written down over here where people actually read it.

I've been realizing lately that I've been putting a lot of pressure and stress on myself. How smart is that? Stressing yourself out? Not too smart, if I can say so.

I've found that my massive huge, long lists stress me out. I can still be a list lover, but I just have to not make them so long, and prioritize what I have on them.

I stress myself out by being around people who think negatively, because that makes me think negatively. Now, I'm not saying everyone has to be positive all the time, that is just not realistic. But I've noticed that some people are much more negative than others. In my online life, I've been removing them from Facebook, Twitter, etc. For me, it's a good choice.

I stress myself out by feeling like I have to accomplish EVERYTHING in a day. I don't give myself credit for what I have done, but focus on the failure. As Dr. Phil (I think it's him that says this) would say, "How's that working for you." Not very well, honestly. I've been working very hard to focus on the positive and leave the negative by the wayside.

I could go on and on about how I cause myself stress. I am learning to recognize what causes me to stress out and how to prevent it. For me, that is huge.

I have also learned that I have to remember to take care of ME. It's so hard to do, but it's so important. Starting today I'm going to take at least 30 minutes of alone time daily to just decompress and focus on myself. I don't know what all I will do during it, but I just know what I need it.

I also know that I need to get back to doing some of my CBT based stuff. Like Thought Records for instance. Those seriously helped me. I also need to continue with my exercise and eating healthy that seriously makes a word of difference. I can't forget my leisure time either. That is different than my alone time. I think I'm going to start using my leisure time to focus on creative projects. I miss doing those all the time.

I've learned so much over the last month and I know what skills/tasks I should be focusing on and doing, but at the same time it seems like so much work. I need my IOP friends back here with me. They would keep me on track. :)