Stressed

The sleepless nights have returned again. Much to my chagrin, it’s 5.30 am and I’m listening to the birds wake up on the last corporate working day of the year here in Australia. That picture sounds pretty good, especially as it’s only a few days to go until Christmas! The added factor for me is knowing that stress is causing the early mornings.

Another Journey

A year ago I would wake up early thinking it was perfectly normal that I could go to get at eleven or twelve and wake up 4 or 5 hours later, and then work through the day as best as I could feeling a little cloudy but otherwise fine. Occasionally hiding yawns that would effectively tear my jaw off like I’m a snake trying to swallow a passer-by if they get too close. The stress for me at the moment is in preparation for a departure of my vehicle to South America (antipodeanadventure.com). I’ve been preparing myself for a long time for this trip, a final trip of my ‘young adult’ life, across the Pan-American where hopefully, if things go well, my partner and I aim to start a family of our own afterwards. There’s a lot to be stressed about. Stressed and excited. 

Managing Stress

Today I have two sponsors providing me gear for my journey, a little late in the show as it’s almost the final act as I prepare for shipping the car in January, but am humbled by the generosity of the two companies and will be making as many final preparations as I can.
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However, I will take ten minutes to sit on my couch this morning with some fruit tea and gather my thoughts, something I’ve only done once this week with a mixed degree of success: at 9 or 10pm after completing all my project for the day, I promptly just fell asleep. Nailed it! I will also try and take in the advice of my new mentor: think of your life as a film. We tend to get caught up in the precise moment but know that now is only a tiny bit of the story: this day and even week is only a microcosm of the bigger picture of your entire life. I like this.

Figures to Help Manage Stress

Since I’m a Business Analyst at heart, naturally I can’t leave it there. The average life expectancy in Australia is 82.5 years which is roughly 30,094.25 days (as an aside, since 10,000 days is quite a milestone at roughly 27 years of age, I like that I can hopefully hit two more milestones). But overall you have 30,000 days to play with. Today is only 0.003% of the wider contribution of your life. Hell, an entire week is only 0.02%! Don’t sweat the small stuff, see the bigger picture, drink fruit tea, relax. Merry Christmas to you and yours, hope you have a wonderful festive season break.
 

​References and images from:
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress.aspx
http://thewellnessproject.me/stress-can-affect-every-organ-body/
http://www.thewhiskeyjournal.com/man-without-lazy-bone-in-his-body-exhausted