Jewish Musings, Thursday 7/18

[lee058]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.



Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:





Frieda (hopefully)?

Holly

Lee

Louise

Lynne

Peachy









And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[lee058]

I'm writing this Wednesday evening, as I have a plumber coming over at 7:15AM (!!) Thursday morning.

Thursday's topic: Staying sane.

Based on Wednesday's topic and the responses, I think we could all use a breather. What do you do to help yourself when you've got a lot going on?

For me, I talk with my therapist regularly. She is a big help. I also talk with my friends, who are also a big help (I'm including all of us here, of course).

I look at the flowers on my kitchen table, and outside. We have lots of wonderful plants indoors too.

I play Scrabble with DS practically every day. We also play acey-deucey.

I consciously appreciate the air conditioning and lights in my house, and the car a/c when I go out.

Actually, I try to consciously appreciate a LOT of things. The more I do this, the better I feel.

I remind myself that I am capable. I can deal with a great many types of situations, and when I feel like I can do this, it helps me handle them.

Oh, and just my idiosyncratic thing: You know I like making lists, and crossing stuff out as I do them. This helps me feel good.

I hope everyone has a peaceful evening/night Wednesday, and a wonderful Thursday. I will look in when I have time, after the plumber leaves.

Thanks everyone, for being my friends!! Lee

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE! Please pray for Israel.

The plumber came on time and did a good job. I thanked him and told him it was a pleasure to have someone over who really knew what he was doing. He appreciated that.

Have a peaceful day, Lee

[peachymom1]

Lee, you have a lot of great coping mechanisms. Good for you!

When I have a lot going on, I try to simplify wherever possible, so I don't feel so overwhelmed. Simplifying includes letting go of whatever I can, delegating things to others, and reassessing the importance level of whatever is on my plate. The aim is to bring the amount of stress down and somehow make it possible to manage things.

I didn't always do this. In my younger years, I just tried harder, worked harder and did as much as I could as fast as I could, because getting things done made me feel like I was accomplishing things, which I thought was bringing down my stress levels. It took me a while to finally learn that this wasn't a good method. I was just working myself to death, and my stress level didn't diminish.

I learned from my techie son that a much better strategy is to limit the amount of stress factors; instead of allowing stress to build and then working to reduce it, I could stop allowing the stress to get to high levels to begin with. DS also taught me the value of taking breaks and looking for coping mechanisms BEFORE things got to the critical point, rather than waiting until I was completely overloaded and freaking out, like a machine that shuts itself off when it's working too hard. I had to learn that I am a finite human being with limitations, and even though I am responsible and have a good work ethic, sometimes I just can't do everything, and it isn't good for me to do so even if I could.

Out of the mouths of babes...(Did you know that was from Psalms 8:3?)

[lee058]

I went back and reread what I had written earlier. I needed it; today was stressful. I keep telling myself that DH is still in pain, so that's why he's (what's a polite way to put this?) moody. Grrrrrrrr!

Anyway, I'm managing. Have a peaceful evening, Lee

[gazelle18]

Hang in there, Lee! It’s not easy dealing with a grouchy patient.

A few things that help keep me sane:
Being with people I like takes my mind off of my troubles
Breaking big tasks into several smaller ones helps me feel more in control
Trying to get a good night’s sleep. I usually feel better the next morning