Alleviating Stress

What it means to be stressed and how to move past those feelings…

In my opinion being stressed means you are constantly thinking about the next steps in your life.  Whether it is where your next meal is coming from, what job you will hold in a couple months, or what city you will live in next.  These thoughts weigh you down and at a point it is hard to think about anything else besides what is on your mind.  That thought grows and grows until it takes over and you become unable to focus on your present life, which is actually the most important.

Now, I am not saying that thinking about your future is a bad thing, but you cannot let it take over your life.  I certainly have let my stress take over before but I have learned from my mistakes and I know how to help myself now.  Situations vary on level of stress.  For example my life was turned upside down when I went to college and was thrown into a new environment with people who did not know me and I did not know them.  I was depressed for my entire first freshman semester and could not look in the mirror without crying.  I had major self-conscious issues, I didn’t have many friends, and I was away from the people I loved.  I was lost and stressed and anxious out of my mind. 

For a part I did let it take over my life.  I lived in sweatpants, saw a therapist once a week, went to class, worked out, and slept.  I didn’t try to fix anything.  I wasn’t doing anything to help myself.  My suitemate saw me crying one day and my college life was forever changed.  She took me in and helped me see the bigger picture.  I was not alone in feeling alone and I was a good person with a lot to offer.  I let that first semester get the best of me and I waited for someone else to help me fix my life.  I vowed to never let my life get that bad again, and if it did, I would be the one to pull myself out.  College turned out to be the best four years with the best people I could have asked for.  And granted I probably would not appreciate them as much as I do now, without having that first semester with no one.

Now when I get anxious or overwhelmed with what life is throwing my way I try and take a step back in order to go forwards.  I think to myself what will freaking out do for you? The answer is usually nothing.  And most times I do freak out, but only for a little and then I make my way to calming down.  I know what helps me and what doesn’t.  I always put on music that makes me happy and gets my mind off of what I’m thinking about.  I will either write out what I’m feeling so that I can remember it for a later time or I will try and process my feelings then and there. 

Usually my anxiety comes from my biggest fears in life and currently it is not having a job or a future.  Now that is a big bold statement for me to think about myself.  Especially because I have a part time job that I love and I know I will have a future because I believe in myself. 

All that being said, it is ok to doubt yourself once in a while, you just have to come back to believing you are worthy of anything you set your mind too.