Happy Monday

Stress is a horrible thing. For the last month I have been riding a wave of cortisol, constantly preparing my body for fight or flight, yet I can do neither. I fully anticipate that in the future we will find a way of studying the effects stress has on the body more thoroughly and discover that it is just as bad for you as sugar or even tobacco. I bet it causes cancer. I feel rubbish. I have not been sleeping well and I have lost my appetite. My body is so busy diverting blood flow to my extremities (for the fight/flight) that my digestive system doesn't get a look in. I have been eating at all the right times but only because I know I need to to keep myself strong. I feel light and barely connected to the earth and I hate it.

A couple of weeks ago someone commented on my Happy Monday post that I had obviously had a great week. I hadn't. It had been a horrible week in which much of the source for the current stress had been unearthed (sorry to be cryptic but I'm not ready to talk about it until I know where it's heading). I try not to be a 'sunshine and lollipops' blogger, making my life sound styled and perfect; but constant whining about my (mostly first world) problems is dull and quite frankly is a little toxic. It was interesting that by focussing on the positive I had given the illusion that life was sweet (even with my usual 'disclaimer' at the beginning).

This year I have been focussing on the positive things- I started with #100happydays (here, here and here). It has been a pretty tough year so far but I am coping with it much better than I would have in the past. If you are having a tough time of things I certainly recommend recording the moments of joy in whatever way is convenient for you, it provides a great perspective.