Overcoming anxiety!
Well the morning started out tough.
I was recently contacted about a pet sitting job. It is with a neighbor I know well and like. I have always loved their dogs and they are literally my favorite family to pet sit for. But....they got a new puppy....so I am very overwhelmed over that 😬 I have raised puppies recently. They are....so high maintenance.....I am just worried with all the emotional issues I have been having lately it will be too much for me and I will have a meltdown.
But...it is only 2 days. It will give me a safe space away from my own toxic household. The only thing stressing me out about the situation is my own lack of confidence in myself to handle it....when I have handled MUCH more than a puppy before....lol. And we do need money!
Anyways though I barely slept last night due to stressing over it....and then most of this morning I felt paralyzed and unable to act....just hiding in my bathroom listening to the shower run as I do when very anxious....it did not help I was constantly thinking of painful memories at same time. It just felt like too much and I was shutting down.
So...I did some work on my anxiety going over what I was worried about in the situation and what I could do if my fears happened ie I had a meltdown...my husband helped me feel better in that I could call him any time. I won't just be stranded if something doesn't go well, he can help. Just knowing I have that backup makes me feel a lot better. I also just tried not to pressure myself to get anything done, and told myself just because I was struggling now didn't mean the whole day was forfeit.
Eventually...I started thinking of different tasks I wanted to accomplish...I realized some didn't cause me as much anxiety as others. For example....when I thought of picking up the room. I immediately felt overwhelmed...and started to become very sleepy. Shutting down. I thought of just getting all the garbage. Felt overwhelmed...but not as sleepy....instead of like a 8/10 stress response it was like....5/10....then I thought of just getting trash from the bathroom. Because doing something is better than nothing...and a lot of time just getting started can help me get moving and do more. Just thinking of getting trash from the bathroom didn't really make me feel stressed or sleepy at all. When I realized this...I felt empowered enough to go empty the bathroom trash....and this motivated me to empty the trash in the rest of the room too!
It was still a fairly small/simple task. But I am proud I was able to work through such difficulty in order to accomplish it. Every time I am able to manage my anxiety and get work done anyhow, it is a little victory for me that will help teach my brain to be less overwhelmed by activity and gives me a key into how I can function better. In this case...I kept breaking down my tasks into smaller and smaller sizes until they no longer were giving me a major stress response and was able to do them!
Just thought I would share that bit of my progress 🥳
I was recently contacted about a pet sitting job. It is with a neighbor I know well and like. I have always loved their dogs and they are literally my favorite family to pet sit for. But....they got a new puppy....so I am very overwhelmed over that 😬 I have raised puppies recently. They are....so high maintenance.....I am just worried with all the emotional issues I have been having lately it will be too much for me and I will have a meltdown.
But...it is only 2 days. It will give me a safe space away from my own toxic household. The only thing stressing me out about the situation is my own lack of confidence in myself to handle it....when I have handled MUCH more than a puppy before....lol. And we do need money!
Anyways though I barely slept last night due to stressing over it....and then most of this morning I felt paralyzed and unable to act....just hiding in my bathroom listening to the shower run as I do when very anxious....it did not help I was constantly thinking of painful memories at same time. It just felt like too much and I was shutting down.
So...I did some work on my anxiety going over what I was worried about in the situation and what I could do if my fears happened ie I had a meltdown...my husband helped me feel better in that I could call him any time. I won't just be stranded if something doesn't go well, he can help. Just knowing I have that backup makes me feel a lot better. I also just tried not to pressure myself to get anything done, and told myself just because I was struggling now didn't mean the whole day was forfeit.
Eventually...I started thinking of different tasks I wanted to accomplish...I realized some didn't cause me as much anxiety as others. For example....when I thought of picking up the room. I immediately felt overwhelmed...and started to become very sleepy. Shutting down. I thought of just getting all the garbage. Felt overwhelmed...but not as sleepy....instead of like a 8/10 stress response it was like....5/10....then I thought of just getting trash from the bathroom. Because doing something is better than nothing...and a lot of time just getting started can help me get moving and do more. Just thinking of getting trash from the bathroom didn't really make me feel stressed or sleepy at all. When I realized this...I felt empowered enough to go empty the bathroom trash....and this motivated me to empty the trash in the rest of the room too!
It was still a fairly small/simple task. But I am proud I was able to work through such difficulty in order to accomplish it. Every time I am able to manage my anxiety and get work done anyhow, it is a little victory for me that will help teach my brain to be less overwhelmed by activity and gives me a key into how I can function better. In this case...I kept breaking down my tasks into smaller and smaller sizes until they no longer were giving me a major stress response and was able to do them!
Just thought I would share that bit of my progress 🥳
