Last week I put aside what I had planned in order to write an article that was commissioned 6 days before deadline by a magazine I queried in early November. Six days is not enough days, mind you – especially when the article requires interviews with famously busy experts on the topic and it’s find-a-$10-gift-for-the-holiday-office-party week.
Perhaps Santa likes irony. The article whose words and phrases chased my dreams away and left me stressed out and crazy was titled “How to Turn Off Your Brain and Get the Sleep You Need.” I spent the week reading about relaxation, interviewing experts on stress, and obsessing over things I didn’t know and couldn’t control. And those obsessions took root, sprouted, and grew as the week went on.
Stress is the gift that keeps on taking. It steals your concentration, ruins your sleep, poisons your attitude. I found myself mentally writing and re-writing inane sentences at 3 a.m. when all I wanted was some rest. The churning, roiling lump of anxiety inside spun off little stresslets all week long. Stresslet is my pet name for the what-ifs that get you in their grasp and won’t let go no matter how small or how irrational. With a little care and feeding, those little stresslets grow in to big, hairy monsters, you know.
Four days since the deadline, I think I’m finally wrestling free. What brought me back to some semblance of sanity? Christmas letters from good friends, time with my family, and a big dose of gratitude for all the good things in my life. If the stresslets in your life are growing like Saint Bernard puppies, get some perspective. Call a friend and take time to catch up. Order your café mocha in a ceramic mug, and dunk a biscotti. Buy and give a gift through the charity organization you admire (Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, etc.). When you step away, you’ll see that stresslets are kind of cute when they’re small. Really.
