4 Things to De-stress a Stressful Day

We have all experienced a stressful day or days.  So here are 4 things I try to do when life gets a little crazy and chaos feels like it's
running rapid.

1. Slow down and Engage
Stop what you're doing when things get a little crazy.  Engage with the people around you.  I find that sometimes the whining or fussing seems like it just grows louder and louder as I'm working through my day.  So ofter I will stop my chores or whatever feels pressing to me and just engage with my boys. The chores can wait and I sit down and we read a book or play with their trains.  Just sitting with them can change the mood in the house from crazy to calm.  Talking with them and being with them helps them relax.

2.  Make time for Quiet Time
This is for me and for the kids.  They need it just as much as I do.  Life is so busy all the time and if we don't slow down it's easy for all of us to feel overwhelmed and stressed.  The boys may not always take naps but they can lay down in their room and play quietly or look at books.  Usually they fall asleep, but if they don't we shoot for an hour.  Granted somedays it takes work to get them settled, but it's more than worth it when we are all enjoying the quiet time.  If your stress is work related make time during your work day and find a quiet place to shut off for 15 minutes.  Five if you don't have that long.  It always helps me reset.

3. Talk Happy
Be posistive. Speak good things over your children, yourself, your spouse, and every situation.  I might be having a crazy day, but it's hard for me to feel overwhelmed when my words aren't saying it.  When I give in and start saying I how feel about whatever is stressing me I notice the stress just gets worse and that's when it gets transferred to everyone in the house too.  Because they hear me and my words bring them down.  If it's hard for you to find something to talk happy about, then think on the things you're thankful for and talk about those things.  I think everyone can find something to be thankful for.  Just like bad talk is contagious, so is good talk.  So talk happy!

4.  Pray
It doesn't have to be long and drawn out.  It can be short and sweet.  "Thank you Lord for patience and grace in this situation" as your shuffling your children out the door for school because you're running late.  That was me yesterday.  I don't make a spectacle of myself so everyone around me knows what I'm doing either.  For me praying is just talking to God all day long in my daily goings.  Thanking Him for the little stuff and acknowledging Him in everything I do.    It helps keep me close to Him and when I'm closer to Him I don't feel as stressed.


Stressful days come, but I think it's all in how we handle them that determines how long they last and how they affect us. The best way our kids learn how to handle crazy days is by us showing them how to deal with them.  Do I get it right all the time?  No.  But I can't give up and that's what they see most!

These are just 4 things that I do.  What are some things that you do to De-Stress a Stressful day?

Motherhood is Calling & it Isn't what You Think!

 

There are about as many different types of people in this world as there are grains of sand.  Deep I know, but truth right?  Well you could say that same phrase about mothers too.  I don't care what the parenting magazines say, there's not 5 different types of mothers and you can't just take a 2 minute quiz to figure it out.   Some mothers are just naturally nurturers who find their passion in doing the mommy stuff and being home all the time. While another mother finds her passion outside the home all the while still caring and loving her children with passion and zeal.   Be careful not to let what others think a mother should look like determine how you feel about your own motherhood.  Mothers look different in every situation.  Don't compare yourself to another woman.  You'll only pick yourself apart and rob yourself of joy that you could be spreading to your family.  Relax and rest in this, if you are somebody's mother then God has equipped you with everything you will need to be the mother He designed you to be.   You just have to believe it.   I think that motherhood isn't just for those of us with children, but for all women.

A mother isn't just someone who gives birth to you or who just sees to the well being of those in her family.  Motherhood isn't tied to blood lines and physical attributes.   Knowing what kind of mother you are boils down to one simple thing...love.  Not the gushy, sweet kind of love, but the I'm here for the long haul, never giving up on you kind of love.  I like the gushy sweet stuff, but that's really the perks of being a mother I think.  The committed love is what motherhood is built on.  It's choosing to put others before yourself in all things.  Motherhood is saying I choose to love you, whether I gave birth to you or whether someone else did.  I choose to love you whether or not you'll love me back,  whether or not you deserve it, and whether or not you do things I think you should.  You don't have to have children to be a mother.  Motherhood is even sometimes the women who come into our lives as adults and guide us gently through the muck and the mundane.  Who spend time with us, sowing wisdom and health into our hearts.   Helping us in the hurts and lifting us up to be better women!  They say "I've been where you are and I've seen that.  You can do it.  Don't give up!  Stay the course."  All the while choosing to love us when we're not their own.   

All mother's have one thing in common, we're women.  So as women lets lift each other up.  Let's commit to only seeing the good in each other, only speaking the good about each other, and only helping each other to rise above the things that hold us back.  Not everyone is meant to be best friends, but we are meant to love and encourage and build each other up.   I know that some of us have had bad experiences when it comes to relationships with other women.  I think most everyone has a mean girl story or that gossipy, backstabby friend who cut you down, but that's when forgiveness can help you heal and love will pull you through.

1 Peter 4:8

 Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].(AMP)

With a new year in front of us this is the perfect time to start fresh in how we think about ourselves and other people.  It will make difference in our lives when choose to love others and ourselves.  It will make us better wives, mothers, friends, workers, business owners, and better women.  Isn't that what we want?  To come up and over things all while bringing others with us.  Life isn't just about being alive, but living it to it's fullest.  True happiness is found in truly loving others and that's what motherhood is all about.