The Impact of Stress

 What is a healthy work-life balance? I know it’s often a common goal. Many of us get stuck in a cycle of trying to single-handedly juggle all parts of life. The workload, relationships, children if we’re parents, these all require our time and attention. Juggling all these responsibilities can be overwhelming and can cause our stress to increase to unhealthy levels. Being a mother, wife, and employee myself there are moments when I feel worn out and exhausted, but I push past it because my to-do list is never-ending

. It’s the go-go-go part of me that takes over. When I allow this, I get sick every time. I’m stopped in my tracks, sick, and forced to rest. This is often when I realize that I’ve neglected myself. What do I mean by this? When I reflect back I notice I’ve been eating a lot of junk, not getting enough sleep, not hydrating properly, not being physically active, but have also neglected my mental health. No wonder I’m sick, all the stress has suppressed my immune system.

After making a full recovery, I’m left asking myself how do I prevent this from happening again? Perhaps asking for help. This is not an easy thing for me to do. Many of us hold ourselves to high expectations and think we should be able to do everything, I know I’m guilty of having those thoughts. However, it is just not possible, we are only human. How do we ask for help? The first step is to look at our support system. Who within our system can we reach out to? The next step is often the hardest and it is to call or text that person. Why do I say it’s the hardest because we often have to disclose that we need help or that we are struggling. This can leave us feeling vulnerable, and like we are somehow failing. But we are not. We are taking a step toward caring for ourselves.

As part of caring for myself, I’ve resumed therapy. I stopped going because I allowed the go go go part of me to take over and that part decided there was just no time for therapy. Seeing my own therapist every week or two is a big part of my personal self-care.

Are you ready to get started? Get help now!

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