Weekly Inspiration: Dealing with STRESS

Once again, I apologize for the absence of regular posts here on the blog (though I do try to keep up on Twitter and my Facebook page). Hard as it is to believe, we had yet another new crisis here this week (following our son's health hitting a new low, having to rush to buy a car that we really can't afford, and losing internet last week). This week, it was my 94-year-old father-in-law (who is fine now). He came down with a respiratory virus last weekend that really knocked him out. We had to call an ambulance to take him to the ER Monday morning because he was too weak to stand. They ran thousands of dollars of unnecessary tests and finally concluded 4 days later...it's a cold! It was frustrating in the hospital, but it was probably where he needed to be, as they gave him some treatments to keep his lungs clear. We finally got him discharged Thursday afternoon, and he was thrilled to be back in his own apartment in his comfy recliner!

So, my husband and I were both exhausted and completely burned out yesterday, with piles and piles of stuff to do around the house that had been ignored all week (month?). We enjoyed a much-needed quiet evening out together last night, with dinner and a movie (watch for a review here soon - we loved Yesterday!) and are feeling better today, but we still have loads of to-do's to catch up on and are still focused on trying to improve our son's health (upcoming post on that, too). So, today's post (sorry it'll have to be brief) is on STRESS!

Dealing with Crises
I wrote an article last year for ProHealth called Roll with the Punches, after another crisis (maybe we should just skip summers...) hit us. It's all about how life with chronic illnesses has "trained" us for dealing with the crises that occur in every life. It's a good reminder for me right now. We've been following this model the past two months...but enough is enough! Too many crises in a row has still left us feeling frazzled, even with good coping skills.

Taking Time Out
Which leads to what we did last night - just taking a time-out and giving ourselves a break to recover after the urgency has passed. We didn't have the energy for social interaction last night, so an evening out with just the two of us was just what we needed. A recent Weekly Inspiration post called Laugh! provides some ideas and inspiration for using laughter to relieve stress and feel better (the movie we saw last night was lots of fun, light, uplifting, and included lots of laughs).

A few weeks ago, in between crises, we took a day off to celebrate an early Father's Day with a hike with our sons and a nice picnic-style dinner at home with our father-in-law, too. It had been ages since we were all together, and my husband and I took the day off from trying to "get stuff done," and we all enjoyed the brief respite from our too-busy lives. Another Weekly Inspiration post, You Deserve a Break Today! has more ideas for taking time out to relax and recover after a crisis passes.

OK, quiet time on the porch is over for me! I need to go call my brother-in-law to fill him in on my father-in-law's scare this week and then refill the weekly medicine boxes for my son and I. I feel refreshed after our evening out last night and a quiet Sunday morning.

How do YOU cope when crises hit?