Reduce stress in my life

Just wanted to give a recap on the stress-reduction in my life so far:

July 06: moved out from my ex-husband’s home
July 06: got fired from my job for “letting my divorce affect my job performance”
Jan 07: finalized my painful divorce
Jan 07: met an amazing man who proved to me that real love does exist
April 07: moved in with him (Patrick)
July 07: got a new job as a server, and I really enjoy this job
July 07: Patrick proposed to me
Dec 07: got married to Patrick!!!

Through the last year and a half, I learned that being in a job that pays well yet rapes you of personal emotional strength, requiring your time, tears, blood, sweat, devotion, and time spent in a new marriage is not a job worth keeping. Getting fired from that job was the best thing that could have happened to me. As I like to call it, it’s a blessing covered in poo. It sucked, but I was so much worse off staying at that job.

Also, being in a horrible marriage caused major stress in my life. I’m glad I gave it all I could so that when he pulled the plug, I at least had some peace knowing I tried. He quit trying.

During this stressful time, with the crappy job and crappier husband, I developed a constant eye twitch, weekly (if not more often) migraines, weight gain, back problems, extremely tight and sore muscles in my shoulders, drained energy, and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness, even to the extent of having suicidal thoughts.

I thank God frequently for blessing me with doors and windows to get out of both of those situations. I am so grateful to my new husband who respects me, loves me, and supports me. I am grateful for a job that doesn’t have to come home with me. I do my best while I’m on the clock, and I leave it there when I go home. My life is so much more stress-free than it was a year ago, year and a half ago, hell…from October 2003 to January 07. I am so grateful I am where I am NOW.

My stress-reduction from this point on is more of a refining of my life, my spirituality, my every day choices and progress.

because I’m prioritizing sleep, being slightly more organized with things and actively working toward goals so I have more time to do things that are hobby-related. This will have to be an ongoing thing, because it’s a journey rather than a destination.

But, I’ve taken on this job where I have to appear as if I never have stress, and it’s taking its toll on me. However, I’m not freaking out right now. It’s just something I am recognizing as something that I need to work on before things get too intense for me.

You really need sleep to deal with highly stressful situations…so if it’s something that’s very important to you, try to get good sleep a lot of the time. I think there are a lot of things that I can do better, but I’ve got another goal that deals with stress…and I feel I’m doing about the best I can possibly do without going out to the mountaintop for a few months to sort things out. So I’m going to get this one off my list.

Because I am majorly having to tell myself to calm down a lot lately! I’ve been really stressed over the past few weeks, but I’m going to be okay…I just go in cycles of being able to handle it better than others.

BUT, I came in from work and dinner to find I had 5 cheers, and that helped me a whole lot. Thank you to all who’ve cheered me within the past several hours! You’ve made a difference in my life today. My heart is a bit lighter. :)

from someone on my e-mail that should help me keep things in perspective. I think that it would be good for everyone to read, though. I posted it on my blog, so here’s a link:

http://denisworld.blogspot.com/2005/07/mayonnaise-jar-and-2-cups-of-coffee.html

See this for information:
http://www.43things.com/entries/view/67623

1. Get my finances in order.
2. Start exercising, and do it on a regular basis.
3. Get a little more sleep or at least rest.
4. Maintain a minimally cluttered existence in my home. (Thankfully that one’s well on its way!)
5. Not lose my drive/optimism that this and other goals can be reached. (Thankfully, I’m in a “determined” mode right now in life. I’m tending to look things in the eye I never thought possible until I’ve been having some focused intensity on my goals like with this site.)
6. Reduce my “need” for caffiene.
7. Keeping organized at work. (So far, so good.)
8. Keep spiritual.

On a side note, I am fairly decent about managing stress. However, like everyone else in the world, I’m not perfect. I can always use improvement. If someone thinks they want to add something to my list…let me know.