Let's talk about stress.....

I feel that depression is a subject that has been covered by many a blogger, but why has no one ever talked about stress?

I would imagine that everyone has suffered with stress at some point in their lives yet not everyone is affected by depression. I suffer with stress regularly. I suffer so badly that I take medication for it. It seems that I cannot cope with everyday life without some sort of chemical help!

It hasn't always been this way. When I was little and had no concept of time, I was quite content. I wasn't worried about having enough sleep to cope with the next day, I didn't have to manage my own money or decide what to eat and when to eat it. I didn't have to make sure the cupboards were stocked just so that I could eat!

I often like to dream about a time when technology didn't exist, when people didn't have "jobs" and you didn't have a house chock full of useless possessions. I think part of the cause of stress today is that our lives are too full of choices and things. I feel guilty if I buy something expensive yet on the other hand I feel that my house has to be chic and my outfit must be fashionable.

Thanks to feminism, women now can choose to work and have a career, or stay home and be a house wife (if you can afford to) which means that they are so many expectations..... It would be a waste not to have a career. But what if I don't want to be ambitious? What if I'm happy just plodding along? WHAT THEN?!!

Today I have been stressed by the stupidest of things. A bulb has blown in my lounge, there is mould above one of my windows that needs to be dealt with, it's busy at work as customers want to shop the sale and return all their Xmas gifts, I don't have a bed for my second bedroom, my car needs new tyres, one of my cats has meowed all night long and kept me awake, I need to lose half a stone......and so the list goes on.

None of these things are important or life and death. Yet they are bringing me down. I can't relax and watch tv because I feel I should be doing something worthwhile. Where does it end?

If you only have two days off work a week, when can you find the time to blog, visit family, clean, shop, do the chores etc? How do you relax and enjoy the moment? How do you live in the now?

Well, I don't have the answers. I haven't found the balance. The closest I come to feeling serene is to read "Don't sweat the small stuff" and to remind myself that actually, none of it really matters. Nothing is so important that it can't wait until tomorrow.....and if I like to watch tv then I WILL watch a lot of tv. And not feel guilty. And the world will not end!