Staying Cool Under Pressure

As I’m writing this post I’m sitting in an hotel room a couple hours from home.  I’m here doing a job and trusting my guys to take care of everything at home.  It’s HARD to trust them with the bunnies especially when I have a rat problem that’s raised it’s ugly and rather horrifying head again. It’s created some stress for me to be honest.  So as I pondered the word prompt “staying cool” what popped into my head is the art of staying cool under pressure.   How does one do it?  The answers aren’t the same for everyone, but perhaps we can figure a few things out eh?

The Art of Staying Cool Under Pressure

There is indeed an “art” to it I suppose.  Everyone handles pressure and stress differently.   My go-to that normally works is going for long walks or burying myself in a book.  Both give me time to step away and by the time I’m back to the real world I’m thinking differently about the situation. 

Reading a book gives my brain a chance to totally focus on something else which allows my subconcious to work it’s magic.  Going for long talks gives me time to prayer, yell at God, cry (sometimes), mutter under my breath where no one can hear me, and just use those endorphins raised by exercise to work their magic

What other methods work?

1. Talking with people NOT connected with the stress.  Sharing our burdens or concerns with others allows ease our burdens. A load shared is a load reduced.  It often will give us a different perspective on the situation as well. 
2. Any form of exercise: stationary bike, a workout routine, gardening, literally… whatever works for you WORKS.  We don’t always have the freedom to go for long walks, sometimes we have to clean a room and tell the family OUT, let me clean!  You can still be present (if you have people you can’t leave alone), but still work out your thoughts and feelings through hard work.
3. Prayer and meditation upon God’s word.  Sometimes just stepping back into a moment of peace is exactly what you’d to do. And if you can’t pray, you might know a friend who can.  Let God step into that moment. Accept the peace he offers you. Listen to what he has to say.
4. Medical intervention!  My recent bout of stress has had me clenching my jaw in my sleep resulting in a sore jaw.  You know what helps?  Softer foods and…. muscle relaxants! (no drowsy). Helps me function better…and then I’m not as stressed about the pain of eating! 🙂 
5. Sitting down and writing out what the problem is and just what you might do about it.  Sometimes the whole problem with stress is we keep it all in our minds. But if we take the time to write it down then you are more able for say “this I can deal with”, “THAT can wait for another day”, “this I might have a partial solution for” and so forth.   For instance, while I’m away and hubby hurt himself trying to care for my buns I called a friend and asked, could you help a day or two…you’ll get bunny cuddle time as a result?  She was happy to help.  Worry over a young litter of bunnies… son is bringing them in the house overnight when the rats are active. 

Additional Ways of Staying Cool

What other things can you do to help with staying cool under pressure?

1. Eat well.  Seriously, reduce your sugars and salts, eat good quality food. 
2. Maybe Essential Oils will help?  They work just the ticket for many folks.  I’ve never found they helped me as they seem like just an odd smell in the air to me.  🙂  But for others… smells are so connected to memories, that just the right odor can be calming.
3. Music, play whatever soothes your heart and mind. 
4. Do something different: Puzzle, knit, play a game, learn a new skill, start a new project (only if it won’t make things worse).
5. Tick things off your to-do list. 
6. Remind yourself of all the good things in life.  Like on my scary ride home today, I got back and I kept reminding myself..I’m here, I’m safe, and no one got hurt.  Scared yes, but physically no.  It’s all good! 
7. Make different life choices if the decisions you are making are not working for you.  
8. If you are feeling caught in the middle between two hard decisions make the one that causes you less internal strife long term. 
9. Take courses or read articles about how to deal with the stress you are under.   

Did you know that SchoolhouseTeachers has a number of resources for parents.  I’ve shown images above of some of the courses that they offer to parents.  I actually spent some time this morning listening to a teaching on children who fall away from the church and why they do so.