7 Things I Decided are Just Not Worth the Stress
1. Being in situations with unfamiliar people
When I'm going into a setting where I either won't know anyone or will be meeting a bunch of new people, I seriously panic. Hands sweaty, heart beating, checking my phone every 30 seconds. Something about entering room of strangers strikes fear into me. Who do I talk to first? Do I just randomly walk up to people? Will they like me? etc..etc... I'm going out for a friend's birthday tomorrow night, and even though I know her- I still was freaking myself out about not knowing anyone else. The weird thing about this (and why it's not worth the stress) is that I love meeting new people. I'm a people person and very social. I've met some of my closest friends in random situations like this. So definitely not worth the stress.
2. Trying to be 'trendy' or stylish
I've always been one for comfort first, style second. And I don't know if it's Pinterest or reading multiple fashion blogs, but I've definitely been feeling less than stylish lately. Hell- that might also be the fact that it feels like it has been winter for 9 months and I'm feeling majorly repetitive in my jeans/sweater/boots combo daily. But again- who cares. I'm comfy, and when warmer weather comes- it'll be a whole new ball game! Or not- but just trying to be positive here. Not worth stressing it.
3. Driving in the snow
Since the first time I drove in the snow and got in an accident, I have been terrified to drive when snow is even in the forecast. It also doesn't help that my dad is completely neurotic about driving in it as well- so I've grown up seeing that. It's a legitimate fear, but I need to stop stressing it so much that it controls my life. It's not worth me bursting into tears any time there is snow in the forecast and I have plans to go somewhere. And it's definitely not cool that I'm actually considering where we buy a house and raise our children, based on how close it is to a train stop/ease of getting downtown in the snow. But it's just not worth the stress and anxiety that it causes me!
4. Feeling bad about how much Doug and I drink
We're young. We don't have kids. Most of our friends are unmarried. And honestly, we really like beer and wine. We like good beer and wine, and I'm perfectly happy that a decent portion of our monthly budget goes to purchasing alcohol or going out for drinks with friends. Not worth the stress (plus wine is a good stress reliever!)
5. Our debt
So I know this is a normal thing to stress about. But guess what? Stressing about it isn't going to make it go away. Between my husband and I, we have a pretty significant chunk of student loans to pay back. Plus a little bit on credit cards, car payments, etc... But we have a budget that we have been doing really well following. We are making payments (on time!) every month. We both have steady jobs (though mine doesn't pay as much as we would like...oh joys of non-profits), and he is even up for a promotion which will likely come with a raise in a few months. So while our debt is definitely hovering over our heads, it's not worth the stress!
6. Buying a house
This is definitely closely related to #5. Obviously paying back debt makes it difficult to save money, in turn making it difficult to purchase a house. But I'm insanely sick of living in an apartment and paying rent. Which of course means buying a house is pretty much always on my mind. But again, referring back to #5- we're doing everything we can to get there and stressing about it now is silly. It will happen when we're ready, and so I need to be at peace with that...and not stress.
7. Letting myself get riled up by people on the internet
So I'm blatantly ripping this one off from Serena's post...but considering it's happening this very instant, I figure it was a good one! This morning, one of the top news stories was of an Ohio Republican Senator who has been openly against gay-marriage, changing his views on the topic because of his son, who had come out to him a few years ago. Now, I think this is a wonderful thing! Someone in politics not letting politics come above his own family. But after looking at different articles and Facebook pages about the topic and reading some of the comments, my heart is literally racing with anger at the hate and idiocy of some people. This is just one example- there are way too many more that pop up on my Facebook page to count. Let's be honest, if I unfriended everyone who I disagreed with, I wouldn't be friends with most of the people I went to high school with! As a liberal who grew up in a notoriously conservative area, this isn't a surprise. Plus, it's not worth the stress. There is a 'hide' button on Facebook for a reason :)
I'll leave you with these awesome words of wisdom.
 |
| Print from Sweet Leigh Mama Etsy shop |
Don't forget to check out the post from Serena over at Spillerena that inspired me to write this!
And what about you? What should you stress less?
