Are you stressed out on the job? Stressed out with family or relationship issues? Stressed out because of illness? Maybe you’re stressed because of one of many other things in life. I’ve been stressed out because of all of the above at certain times in my life and yet didn’t cut myself any slack. Only after all hell broke loose and I had my mental breakdown, I knew I had to give myself a break. It was time to be happy just doing the minimal. Shame on me I needed a health crisis to learn this.
There are people in this world who naturally ride their road of life at or just below the speed limit. And there are those, like the former me, who constantly drive at least 15 mph over. In my teens, I had to be the best ballet dancer. Then I had to be the best student. At one point, I had to work the hardest of all my fellow corporate ladder climbers. I pushed myself extremely hard. Eventually, riding on a manic phase of my bipolar disorder, I drove on the road of life at 50 mph over the speed limit. The energy seemed to make it easy, but like anyone who pushes themselves too hard for too long, I ended up crashing spectacularly. As a result, I found myself hardly able to do even the minimum in life. I became disabled.
Stress coping skills are very important for all of us to learn. However, there are times when nothing seems to be able to conquer the stealthy beast. At that point, you have to do only the minimal amount in life to stabilize your mind and body, especially if you find yourself cutting out fun and joy! Of course, the minimal amount will depend on your personal situation. If you rely on a job to pay the bills, then doing well enough at the job should suffice. Working above and beyond is not necessary. If you have kids, taking good care of them should suffice. Being a super parent, is definitely not necessary.
I challenge you to pull out a piece of paper and a pen. Ignore the “must do’s.” Just create a column of things (even little tiny ones) you can cut out of your life. Or, if you can’t cut them completely, you can perhaps do so from a day or week. Try hard. Also pick at least one thing you’re only debating cutting out. Once you have the list, test drive it for a week, try to skip the debated thing, too. See how it goes. If you find life is still too much, pull out the paper and pen again.
And most importantly, give yourself a little break every now and then, and indulge in some major fun.
Bird Flight 
Great post that speaks a lot of truth.
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Thank you, CLUMSYANDSILLY!
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Thanks for this helpful and personal post. I think we all have had periods of spreading ourselves too thin, especially women. I feel like I’m doing that now between my 8-5 job and our new blog. I have a long term goal to make the blog our full time income so we can travel and enjoy life. We travel a lot now and make the most of our time off, but we also run pedal to the metal when we aren’t relaxing. I have days, like today, where I feel like I’m in zombie mode. I think God sent me your post at the right time to tell me I need to chill out, and that I don’t have to be a superstar all the time. Thank you.
Cheryl
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Hi Cheryl. Thank you for the kind comment!
Oh, I wish I could make a sufficient enough income from a blog. I’d love it! But I’m just a newbie and still have a small following. Plus, my blog isn’t set up to earn any income. I’m just posting about the many ideas rolling around my head.
I used to do a lot of traveling when I was younger and not on disability. My hubby still likes to travel, but the trips have slowed down significantly. I hope you do find a way to incorporate some “chill out” time into your life. At least enough time to stop and smell the roses and to absorb all of the interesting things you do.
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Incredible post! I really loved it) And I have to say I 100% agree with you, we all need the moments of calm, moments we can spend on ourselves only with no one interrupting)) Personally, I love those moments. But gotta say, we can’t stop doing things like working, especially if the work is business and you can’t really stop worrying about it) But still, we all need to relax))
Thank you for reminding us all about that)
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Thank you, summervinn! I’m glad you enjoyed my post. I know that some work in life is just impossible to avoid, but I’ve also found that we sometimes add on so many “extras” that can be trimmed off from time to time.
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Yeah, you’re right)
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Smart and sensible advice. I believe in letting go so that I can breathe. Cutting out bits and pieces of responsibilities won’t kill anyone and probably do more good 🙂
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Thanks, jacquelineobyikocha! It took me a while (and a mental breakdown) to learn to do this well.
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Great article. It made me realize I had been spending too much time actually making lists. I make ‘to do’ lists endlessly, like most people, then get annoyed with myself for not having done all the things on them. From now on I shall cut out list-making and just live.
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That sounds like a good plan sally.
There was a time I’d create ambitious “to do” lists and be disappointed in myself when I couldn’t complete everything. Then I’d create what I called “The minimum ‘to do’ list and add a couple ‘would be a bonus’ items to it. I’ve learned to put the true bare minimum at times. What I used to be able to handle in the past is not what I can handle anymore.
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Nice one. So difficult though, because I am so capable, so exceptional, so wonderful (until NOT). Nothing like a ballet dancer, but in my little world. Turning down potential feels like a sin. Crash and burn, crash and burn….vs long term mediocre?
Liked your post, thank you, made me think.
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I found that there some things in life where mediocre is just fine, but of course mediocre in all respects, not fine. But often the things you deep down enjoy the most you can excel at without killing yourself.
Thanks so much for reading my post
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