Is it Good or Bad.

So I tend to think and think and think situations over and over and over in my head and I can't sleep and I can't function properly because I'm stressing about it. One of the things that I tend to run over in my head is conversations that I have had with people. They are usually conversations in which I am feeling like others have percieved me in a negative way.

To Help or not to Help...

So I was getting into my car after leaving a stressfull experience at the park with my kids and someone I knew stopped to ask if I had a nipple shield and if they could have it for their cousin who just had a baby and they were having trouble brestfeeding. Now I am an advocate for breastfeeding but I really didn't know what to say at the moment because I wasn't sure if I still had it and I also didn't know if I really wanted to give it up so I went on rambling all these type of thoughts to her several times and I was also telling her that someone else we knew I thought that she had a couple of them and to try and call her first. Then later I talked to my friend and she said that they had said that I didn't want to give them my nipple sheild and I was feeling really stressed that these people thought that I wasn't willing to help or that I was selfish and that I should have said it differently when I was talking to her and I just couldn't stop thinking about it and I worried the bad impression that I left.

Lessons in Progress:

#1: I could first think about the conversation and think of a better way to aproach the situation and realize that I made a mistake and that I will do better next time. Everyone makes mistakes and has weird conversations sometime.

#2: I have to realize that in every situation everyone will interpret it differently and I can't predict it and I can't control it all I can do is make the best choice I can for me. Then because I know that I made the best choice I could even if someone thinks a negative thought about me it doesn't mean that I am mean it just means that there is another interpretation for it. I have to choose to think of it in a positive way.

#3: The conflict was not with someone else but it was with me.

you have to Change.

In order for my life to change and for me to change I have to change and I have to do something different. I think bad things about myself and I do have low self-esteem. I have been struggling with this pretty much my whole life. I love my dad and I am not blaming my dad for the way that I am but I am just saying that this may be the reason that I do think bad things about myself is because my dad used to call me bad names and yell at me a lot. A couple of the things that he really got upset about was going to bed and getting up in the morning. I started my day off thinking bad thoughts about myself and believing them the rest of the day. This happened for a long time. Now I believe that it is going to take me a long time to change it. But in order to change it I have to actively do something to change it. So I've started thinking good thoughts about myself and doing my breathing every morning and night and I'm already starting to see changes in the way I think others percieve me and in the way I treat my behaviors and being more confident in myself and my actions. I have also struggled a lot with going to sleep and getting myself up in the morning and I find it a lot easier to do when I'm thinking good things about myself.

Lessons in Progress:

#1: You can't expect something to change if you do not do something to change it.

#2: Changing the way you think is hard and it takes a lot of time to change. Especially when it's taken a lot of time to set up the way you think.

#3: Thinking good things about yourself can literally make you a better person. The power of the mind is unmeasurable.

Do I have to have Feelings.

Now I haven't quite got myself figured myself out on this one yet but I have been noticing that many of the problems that I can pinpoint may have to come back to trying to protect myself from getting hurt or avoid having feelings. For instance sometimes I'm mean or distant with people because if I get close or have good feelings it leaves me vulnerable for getting hurt or having bad feelings. I don't like to be alone because that leaves me alone with my fears and anxiety and my feelings. That are hard to control and are scary and real and I don't like it.

Lessons to learn:

#1: Right now I don't really know what I need to change and exactly how to fix all of this but understanding myself and why I do certain things is one of the first steps to fixing things.

#2: First accept my feeling and then accept the reality. Like I sometimes get really scared when driving because I had a bad car accident in the past so I have to tell myself, "I'm scared but I'm safe and I'm not in danger."

Make a Game Plan.

Last Sunday I went into church with no game plan at all I was completely ill prepared mentally and it showed the whole day. Not only because I was grouchy but I was frantic. My husband works shifts and so he has to work Sundays and on those Sunday's I dread it. Today however, I prepared for it. I knew last week went so bad and I could feel myself starting to get really anxious about this week as well. So I set myself down and thought well what is stressful about this and what could make it better. So I thought out the morning in my head and decided the best order for things to be done and also came up with a plan B in case plan A didn't pan out because let's face it if you've got young kids Plan A and B don't always go so I also had to be prepared that either of these might not work out and be okay with that to and that I'm not super woman just a woman and things will get done when they get done and eventually how they get done.

I got to church and things did go pretty much as envisioned on my part anyway. Good thing I didn't envision the kids because that really is unpredictable. But really the best part of it was that I slept the night before, I didn't feel stressed getting there because I had a plan and I also knew what else would happen if it didn't get done and I could just enjoy church. I was able to let it go from my stress and thoughts.

Lessons in progress:

#1: Visualize. When you know you are about to face something that is stressful. Create it first in your brain, have a plan and figure the best way to do it.

#2: Realize that things may not go as you envision them but that it is also not going to be the end of the world if it doesn't even get done at all, life goes on, people don't usually judge us as hard as we do and if they do the don't understand you and they do not understand your value and your choice.

#3: Do some breathing, venting (I like to write), and then say to yourself I am a smart person and I am capable of doing this.

I'm too hard on myself.

Sometimes when we are having a bad day it's simply that we are not mad at others but that we are mad at ourselves.

I was mad at myself and because I was mad at myself, for not feeling something that I felt like I should, I kept getting mad at everything and everyone. I finally sat down and wrote it all out and figured out what was bothering me and I did feel better. But I did also feel even worse when I was getting mad at everyone. I was being really hard on myself and therefore feeling really bad and therefore not being able to be nice and therefore feeling bad about that too and the vicious cycle was on.

Lessons in Progress:

#1: The first thing that could have helped. Was to stop and figure out what was bothering me and why and how could I fix it earlier during in the day.

#2: Accept reality, understand that because that's the way I feel there must be a reason why and that helps understand the current reality. It's not good to try to force feelings that you aren't having so accept how you are feeling and why that might be.

#3: Knowing and understanding that that is just the way things are and I can't change it helps me to not be as hard on myself because I can stop saying I should feel this way and I can say but I do feel this way and it's okay because that is just the way I feel.

Just do it.

Today was one of those days were I was so overwhelmed emotionally that I really just didn't want to do anything. And really that isn't all true either the morning part of the day went pretty well. But then my friend also got involved in this insurance problem and then I wanted to call my Aunt to ask for her advice but I'm nervous because I just feel really stupid about it. But then also my mom called and her breast cancer might be back and then the baby wouldn't sleep and I needed a minute to deal with all my feelings because I was getting my heache nasea and dizzy spell. My body couldn't stand up let alone take care of my babies to the best I could so I kind of lost it and then they went to sleep and I just sat and watched TV. I tried to write and vent and then my sister called and I vented to her about a syrup incident this morning.

I made waffles and Ice cream for my daughters birthday this morning I hope this tradition catches on a bit more. Anyway my Husband was getting the syrup and he combined one syrup with the other one which would have made since if the one bottle was smaller but it was big too and it only had a little bit left in it and all he had to do was to use it and then throw that bottle away that I have been wanting to throw away for a very long time and I didn't want to put all the syrup back because know it's all mixed and germy and gross. Anyway I know silly but it made me very angry because I didn't like any of the options for fixing it. (Things would work out if I just did it though and not worries so much about germs from one syrup to the other but it really bothered me.)

It was really nice just to talke to my sister and then a friend called and invited me to Zumba tonight too and I just did it even though I didn't really feel like it and it ended up being really nice. Plus it was exercise which is also a good release of Anxiety.

Lessons in progress:

#1: Deal and Vent before I just watch TV so I can just relax.

#2: I need people. I need to have somebody to talk to about things and help me put things in more of a perspective. And others are usually going through or can understand what I'm going through so it's nice to share with others. I just need to do it and quit being so guarded.

#3: Exercise and friends are also a good way to help release stress and if I just get myself going it's worth it. Ask myself the question, "which choice is more important and what goes better with my values? Sit at home and watch more TV or do something?" Do something usually seems to make me feel better.

Speak my peace.

I was having a problem with an insurance company I was working with. I just felt the whole time that my agent was witholding information and that I wasn't getting all the information and then I found out that I had two other indemnity policies which I thought I only had one policy and then she finally got me all the paperwork and she had signed my name on papers to sign me up for these policies. And I was really angry and felt like I had been cheated and lied to and very angry. But more than angry about it I was very nervous to talk to the lady and customer service about the situation. I even tried talking myself into that this wasn't a big deal just so that I wouldn't have to talk to someone about such an outrageous contentious topic. I finally got the nerve after three nights of practice and the first time I talked to her she did deny and then I got the papers and knew that I was right and I called canceled my policy and told her why and the truth and it was very freeing to be able to say the truth even if it wasn't flattering and it was very hard to say.

Lessons in Progress:

#1: I'm important and I matter and if someone has done something to wrong me I have the right to do and say something about it.

#2: There is a right way to address conflict and I can do it in a calm professional way and I can have confidence and control of myself when I do it.

#3: People do listen when I speak.

Breathing Works.

I have been frustrated with the amount of frustration I have been feeling lately and that of course makes me more frustrated and I was having a horrible no good very bad day. And I think it was when the burner on my dinner mysteriously turned of and I had to re-cook my 20 min. dinner again and the baby was crying and the other kids were ready to eat and I had everything else cooked and ready to go and I went into panic attack mode. Crying, screaming, and throwing a fit and feeling like I've lost control of myself. So I removed myself from the room to my bedroom and let myself be mad about it and then I started to Breath. I do have to admit that the deep breathing works well and I also think that it worked well because I have been practicing my breathing for the past month morning and night. I used to think I don't need to learn how to breath "I know how to breath" but it really does help to breath in and I held it for 5 seconds and let it out and then consciously figured out what was going on and could see the situation more objectively. I was mad but I was okay and I was safe. So that's what I told myself while I was breathing and I calmed down and felt better about it. Unfortunately though I returned and felt more panic over the situation and had to remove myself and breath again and work through it all over again. It's days like these especially when I am really being proactive and getting things accomplished and doing and planning fun activities with the kids and then I loss it still and still everything seems to go wrong.

Lessons in Progress..

#1) Things just go wrong that is just life. It doesn't mean I am doing something wrong. It doesn't mean that I am wrong or bad.

#2) I'm going to have bad days no matter how much progress I make and I might have to do my breathing exercises all day long.

#3) I'm never there, I'm always working on it. Once I stop working on it I go back to worse.

#4) I need to accept my feelings, accept the current reality, and stop thinking bad and unrealistic things about life or myself.

Music.

So today I have been a total basket case. I've been angry at silly things and I've been not feeling like doing anything and just wanting to be lazy. Until late in the night when we were coming home from the Young Women's Fundraiser Chili Dinner which I almost didn't go to because my Husband was at work and I didn't know if I wanted to brave it with the three little ones on my own but I did anyway and it was nice. The Young Women sang some really nice songs, one in particular hit me just right. She sang about how she came to this earth to let her light shine and that she was meant to do a special purpose. And I realized that I was meant to fulfill a special purpose too and I can't just be lazy and think that I am going to fulfill my responsibilities or even be happy in living them when all I want to do is nothing.

Drive Home...

During my drive home a really good song came on the radio. And I decided that I didn't care what my husband or any other adult thought I was going to blare that song and sing it and jam. And it was a blast. (My husband hates it when I turn the music up loud oh and roll the window down too.) I just loved it. I had so much fun singing that song I just felt so happy just enjoying being myself and doing what felt good. I miss music. Since I started teaching dance and choreographing dances music hasn't been as much fun to me because it's been more about work then entertainment. I miss it.

My mini van that I was jamming out in. Which by the way is the best thing ever if you have young kids. I do love my mini van.

Lessons in Progress...

#1: Music can evoke emotion. Good or bad. I need to listen to more uplifting music and more often.

#2: Do something that I enjoy. And really enjoy it. I am the master of finding the bad in all things and I have a really hard time enjoying things and I also find it hard for me to always do the things that I enjoy. I need to make the time to do something that I love to do everyday. And I don't do that. For one I don't really love love anything. So, maybe I need to find that something. The music was a really fun thing...maybe I could do that.

#3: Don't worry about what others think about me as long as I'm not hurting anyone and I'm happy and being myself and enjoying myself what others think really doesn't matter.

Coming Home.

After work or a meeting or spending time with friends and then coming home to the house is a stressful time for me. Usually It's when my husband is home with the kids and I come home and there is a mess aroung the house and the kids need to be fed and they are just hanging out enjoying the day.

So today I came home...

and Everyone was just hanging out and there were shoes and mess all over and the baby started to cry and the kids needed to be fed. And I just started being a big grouch. I was like seriously why does my husband get to just hang out and have fun with the kids and then I have to come home and do all the work. Then my grouchiness didn't make anything better, thank goodness my husband doesn't depend on his mood from mine and he kept up beat and I was able to come out of it and I also had to change my thinking and this is what I had to replace the bad thinking with...

Lessons in Progress..

#1: Remember that last night when I came home from work dinner was made the kids were eating and then my husband even did the dishes. I am not always the victim.

#2: My husband chooses to have fun and I do not.

#3: I clean up twice a day and if messes weren't made I wouldn't have anything to clean up during that time. If I was the only person who lived in the house I could maintain a certain level of cleanliness but since I am not I will accept mess and clean up twice a day. Plus I do have a shelf that is mine and only mine that no one is allowed to touch and it is in order 24/7 so I can let go of some things and let people actually live in the house. :)My "Peace Shelf," where I look when the rest of the house is in array.

The mess that was on the kitchen table.The mess that the kids are having fun with and enjoying.