“I realized a long time ago that stress can do some pretty weird things to one’s body especially if they don’t get it under control.
As I progress in age I came to the conclusion that I am not a super woman and no one asked me to become one.
As a youngster, I use to watch how mother’s performed their household duties and figured out that multi-tasking was the norm.
When I became a wife and a working mother I realized that I could not do it all. I was always tired and I didn’t like the person that I was becoming so I had to make a change.
On top of motherhood and running a household, I was working full-time, going to school part-time and volunteering in my local church until one day I started suffering from vertigo.
After several visits to the doctor and having an MRI, I was told that there was nothing wrong with me and that I was stressed out. I then had to take a look at my life on a whole and determine what was causing my stress.
I had a boss who was demanding at work, I was a choir leader, I was taking piano lessons at times, a part-time student and I was constantly cleaning the house and cooking, and the list goes on.
I decided to plot on a weekly calendar everything that I was doing just so that I could see what my spare time looked like. I had none!
I determined that in order to fix my stress level I needed to manage my time better and prioritize my tasks and complete them on a project basis – one at a time. I needed to get out of some of my activities and simplify my lifestyle and get the family involved in helping with the household chores.
Going to bed at a set time is now part of my strategy. Getting away from time-to-time on a family vacation is another strategy and most of all, learning to say NO when I am over extended is another strategy.
I am only going to live life once and as a result I have learned that sometimes things can wait for another day. I am now in the spirit of having fun and spending time with friends and family as well as learning to laugh more and relax. Doing fun things is now part of my life style and I must say that it helped because I have managed to get rid of vertigo.”
M.M