Coffee control

I've had a lot going on lately, more than usual...and the usual is always a reasonably heavy load.

Over the last little while the weight has piled on though and I've found myself bending under it. I don't like to admit it, I prefer to cowboy-up and just get things done...but I don't think it speaks poorly of a person to admit things are weighing them, right?

I don't want to get into specifics but I've recently had a health scenario that caused a complete upheaval in my life, changed everything, and it's been that which has tipped the scales off balance. This, added to the other pressures, has meant my stress level is up. I generally deal with it well but I've had to put some more effort into stress-management lately. The thing is, when we (I mean me, you and everyone else) feels this way, has additional pressure, I think it can cause us to find stress where it may not usually exist...or maybe I should say, feel stress and pressure over things that would not usually bring us to feel it.

Yesterday I dropped a friend at the airport and found myself in a part of the city I'd not usually be in which gave an opportunity to experience something new and different, namely, a new café, and I thought it might be a good chance to find some detachment from the daily grind to think things through. The resulting contemplations brought me to the realisation I was allowing certain things to weigh upon me needlessly, a by-product of feeling a lot of stress.

A good example is my broadband service. I'm experiencing consistent service drop-outs which is very annoying...I'd normally just step through the (annoying) process of rectification with the company but at the moment...well, let's just say my tolerance for my provider's nutbaggery is trying my (already thin) patience and tolerance. A small example, but one that demonstrates where my head is at due to other pressures.

I think it's really important to find detachment from one's pressures and stresses, hard though it may be, as that will help one gain perspective on them. It means a person is more able to determine how severe the issue may be, to prioritise by level of importance or immediacy, and strategize a viable way forward to a resolution. As I sipped my coffee I did that exact thing and found some comfort, clarity and contentment and that means I can move forward with a little more control.

Have you ever had similar issues? We all deal with stress and pressure, but have you found an excess causes you to find it where otherwise none would exist? Has mounting pressure and resulting stress this made you focus more on the smaller issues hat would normally not be on your radar? How do you prioritise issues that arise and have you found a good strategy to gather it all together and move forward, like my detachment process?

Feel free to comment if you'd like, I always respond.