stress relief

Vianney and allan asked me to answer the question below...when you have time to spare and nothing else to blog...well, why not?

Things I enjoy when no one around me wants to go out and play /
What lowers my stress/blood pressure/anxiety level

1. Television. In my opinion, I dont watch enough TV. I dont have my own set in my room (used to, but then, well..long story). SO on those miraculous days when I am just at home and not doing anything (or refusing to do anything), I watch TV. Doesnt everybody?

2. OD. I have an addiction to coke and chippy. Coca Cola okay, and not the "other substance". Coke + Chippy = Couch Potato heaven (I can hear the sizzle of newly opened coke being poured onto a glass of ice...oooh...lovely.

3. Sleep. No explanation needed.

4. Read. This reminds me, I am in need of a good, thick book that will keep my mind of other Socs-initiated thoughts. But as for what kind of books I like, its the same with poetry....I dont know what I like, I just know it when I start reading it.

5. Write. What can I say? Writing, to this phantom, is as vital as breathing. And so are handy notebooks for that matter. When I am not near my laptop, I have to have somewhere to jot down my thoughts.


So there. The list is short because, well, I usually just find anyone and anything to do outside the house when I'm bored. I'm an introvert who loves to be outdoors. Being at home makes me feel like I'm missing out on something exciting, something I should be experiencing. Hence, my indoor activities are stripped to basics: the usual things people do when indoors and/or household chores.

When Ts come

I guess its easy to tell from previous posts that I have been really pre occupied with work lately. There's so many new things that I have to learn, new responsibilities to deal with, new people to work with topped with the usual stuff that someone with my job would do. Last night I went home drained, tired and terrified. I had just finished almost re-doing a piece of work at 1/4 the time it would usually take to finish it, with people waiting to receive it in another side of the world. I went to sleep dreaming about what could go wrong while they were testing it and I woke up dreading to read my mail to read about what actually happened.

When I got to work (early I might add, considering I havent been that early since I got back and that I left the previous night at an ungodly hour), I opened up my mail and found the dreaded email.

As expected, it was there. What was unexpected was that nothing major went wrong! I had braced myself for another stressful day and another sleepless night, and possibly a non-existent weekend that I didn't know how to deal with the incredibly joyous realization that nothing went wrong.

So I did what was natural...I cried. I cried out of relief, out of stress currently running through my system and stress still contained. I have never cried before because of work...to top it off, I rarely cry in front of other people. My office friend was so surprised to see me cry --- and over work of all things!

All of a sudden I remembered why crying is considered therapeutic. So many held up emotions are released when you do, and somehow you can breathe a little more easily.

My work challenges are not yet over, in fact, I know that there are more to come. I suppose I'll have to just take them all one at a time, and if need be, one tearful moment at a time.

taking time to breathe

With the exception of the first few days I had away from work when I got back, I have not had time to sit still. I've been swept up in a whirlwind of work, new responsibilities, pressure from home, pressure from myself and so many other confusing events that I cannot believe its only been three weeks since I got back.

Three weeks pa lang! Already it feels like its been three months, and Netherlands seem like it was such a long time ago.

Things at home are changing, even my friends are individually going through changes....Renee has resigned, Grache too has resigned and is out of the country, April and Macel are in new jobs and have moved out of Yulo....

As for me, well some things have changed, and there are some that remain the same. I remain as stubborn as I've always been about some aspects of my life. Funny how knowing doesnt necessarily mean doing...

My five minutes are up. Time to go back to work...