For some of us, stress goes straight to a particular address in the body and squats. Stubbornly. It may manifest in reflux or an ulcer, loss of appetite or the opposite, a need to anesthetize through a variety of substances.
It may mean sleeplessness or migraines, both of which will mow us down.
My own mind-body connection runs on overdrive, and I’m fully aware of it. In fact, I suspect this is more the case since the onslaught of stressors that followed divorce… and haven’t let up.
When things aren’t going well, I suffer. Physically. Oh, I keep going, of course. Yet when the stress lets up, it’s as though the heavy-handed tapping on my temples and the clenched fist in my gut release their hold. Then everything functions again, as it should.
Excedrin Headache Number 9999#!$X$@!!!
Yesterday, for example, was a migraine day. Fortunately, not the entire day, but enough of it to flatten me. And when the fist is ruling my world, I’m frustrated. Terribly frustrated. I hate giving in to limits set by my physical self – even if they are instructing me to slow down, to re-prioritize, to take a break – no matter what.
But I don’t always listen. I rail against anything – or anyone – who dares try to knock me down, or knock me off my schedule.
Even when that’s me. Especially when that’s me.
Knocked Down? Get Back Up!
When I’m down for the count, I know what gets me up off the mat. I can’t necessarily make it happen, but I know what helps.
It might be a wonderful piece of news, or something I’ve been dreading which turns out to be fine. It might be as simple as a good night’s sleep, or the snow day that allows the litany of tasks in my head to “legitimately” be set aside. It might be taking a small amount of time to go out. On date night.
It might be the color red. Rosy red in a premature spring blossom. Ruby red in a painting. Poppy red in a new and audacious pair of glasses.
It might be a chance meeting, a conversation that bubbles over with so much to say that time slips away altogether, and then moments of quiet unveil themselves and they aren’t unsettling, but comforting; and there is tenderness in the deep bed of the silence, recognition that words are not all that fills, that there are healing moments when we least expect and the fingers of the fist unfurl as another hand offers to help me up.
And I take it.
See What’s in Front of You
When I am pressed, down, overwrought – I don’t take the time to see what is important. I know what it is, but I cannot focus on it until something – or someone – reminds me to do so. Sometimes, that someone is me, the adult me, suddenly aware that I need to step up my game, perk up my mood, and the very act of taking action will put me in a better place.
- What knocks you down? What picks you back up?
- Do you suffer physically from a string of bad days?
- Do you stop when your body screams at you to do so?
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Generally, I like to start slow, then taper off.
Hmm. Cryptic.
I never used to listen to my body, but then when I got an autoimmune disorder, it became impossible NOT to listen. I get sad about it sometimes, but on the days I’m “off,” I just try to be kind to myself.
What picks me up is often something to look forward to, like family game night or a trip to the bookstore.
Whoa. I think that just made me sound really, really dorky. 🙂
Not dorky at all, Kitch. I know exactly what you mean.
Stress knocks me down, especially divorce related stress when it pops up. Exercise helps, it beats stress down and you feel better and sleep better. Music helps too, listening, learning, and playing.
Ah, yes, batticus. That recurring divorce-related merry-go-round. Let’s hear it for any relief possible! Music. Yes.
I’ve been knocked down all week, literally of a cold virus that doesn’t seem to want to go away. I haven’t been able to write, run or read as much as I would like. Being pulled out of my routine really knocks me down and I can’t wait to get back to some normalcy. Music, coffee at Starbucks, lunch with a friend, and date night with hubby is a good pick me up.
I hope today was better, BLW. It’s true, sometimes the only thing that stops me is my body screaming at me (in more ways than one). I think the challenge for me is that once I think I’ve got my balance back, there’s always something else (in life, not my body) to throw it off again. But so it always will be, eh?
When I don’t go gentle with the stress, I wind up sick. Therefore, I try to prioritize. I should note, though, that I operate under a steady blanket of stress, so it takes more to knock me down.
@Rudri – Wonderful pick-me-ups! Amazing what a few minutes in a coffee shop with a steaming brew can do. (I dreamed I was having coffee in Paris rather than Starbucks. That picked me up this morning! :))
@CT – The weekend certainly improved, and that helping hand? Sometimes in taking another, we are also offering ours in kind. And that’s the best. (That gets me “up” in a wonderful way.)
@Kelly – Don’t you find when you’re used to living with a lot of stress, you start believing you can go-go-go non-stop? Yep. It will make you sick. (Why are some better at recognizing that before it happens?)
My whole family was knocked down with bronchitis and some sort of virus with vomiting. Ugh. But more than being physically ill, what brings me down is negativity and giving in to it can be easy jsut listening to the news and all the blatant sexism perpetuated by the media, etc. What picks me up? People — my support system, my most trusted friends, my adoring husband, my son who always seems to know when to be tender with me.
Death and loss with the accompanying sadness really knocked me down late last year. Getting into the ski season, getting physical, living in the moment – that picked me back up.