To burn or not to burn...

OUT, I mean.  I am doing my best to balance and some days it is easier than others.  Yesterday, for instance, you all got to see my anxious, irritated self.  So after Kitty's decision to quit, I fumed for quite a while- actually into this morning!  Then a dear friend of mine told me to let it go, if I didn't do it, someone else would.  And she was right!  I got a volunteer to do the job our group needed to get done.  Viola!

So in balance of life I have to add in the very important factor of relationships.  Friendships especially.  My friends keep me SANE!  I went for many years without very many friends, which for an extrovert of my caliber is like death.  But I have come back to my roots and realized I need these people in my life!  I have a group of people who keep me afloat and repeatedly lift me up and tell me that I need to keep pushing forward.  I thank God every day for these people.

On the flip side of that I have had to realize that there are some people that I have had to let go.  They don't do anything to further the growth of my life and basically suck all the life out of me with the drama they insist on having.  And I just simply cannot allow that much drama into my life.  That is not to say that things don't happen that create issues that are unexpected and tragic and must be dealt with.  But I can't live at that level on a regular basis.

So the other change I made in the last 24 hours to lower my stress level?  First I started my daughter on the parenting program 1-2-3 Magic and it requires the parent not to talk and not to allow emotions to enter while you are disciplining.  That is SO hard for me.  I come from a long line of Irish matriarchs that yell, all the time.  And I had determined that I was not going to be that Mom and lookey here- I turned out to yell just as much if not more than my Mother did!  So much for wishful thinking.   My goal for balance with my kids is to use this parenting program and not to yell, become stressed, have an aneurysm and die!  I say that in jest, but my anger level could have reached out of control levels if I let it and I cherish my children and they need to feel that this home is there safe place.

Wow, as I write I am beginning to see how many more levels and facets there are to keeping myself healthy that just putting down the M&M's!  Do you have any stress triggers that keep you from being a balanced person?  And what can you do to get rid of them?

Here's to peace my friends!  We all deserve it!

Melinda