Tiny Talk - episode five: Stress

Stress is one of those things than can come and go, be part of your daily routine, or just something that rarely happens. 

Unfortunately for me it is one of those daily routine things. 

I don't know why, and I don't know if I can even pin-point it to one individual thing - maybe it's part of university. That would probably make sense considering there has yet to be one day since September when I haven't woken up feeling stressed about something. 

If you are anything like me you will probably find it really difficult to deal with stress. I find myself getting really worked up, unbelievably intolerant of everything, and just generally becoming a horrible person to be around. 

I'm not even sure if anyone ever gets the same?

There are just those days where I wake up and instantly find that a tiny little thing can ruin my mood instantly. Maybe it's just because I'm female...are there any guys out there who get like that? 

I find that my pet peeves become the main focus when I get like this. I cannot stand the noise of someone eating with their mouth open or breathing heavily. I get instantly riled and have to move out the room if someone near me is doing either of those things. 

When I am stressed this gets a million times worse.

There are hundreds of different reasons why you might be stressed. Family problems, relationships, school or university, or even things to do with yourself might make you agitated.

When I get really stressed (as in I-have-an-essay-due-in-tomorrow-and-I-haven't-written-any-of-it kind of stress) I take refuge on my blog. Although that is usually counter-productive and I end up writing a 1000 word blog post instead of a thousand words on my essay, I end up feeling a million times less pressured than I did beforehand. 

I have also recently found that I take comfort in drinking numerous amounts of coffee when I am stressed. Considering I drink a large amount of coffee everyday anyway, this is probably not healthy. But when I am trying to be productive I think the idea of "healthy" becomes a fairytale.

I've also tried going out for walks. However, it's winter and I tend to do work at night so it gets a tad cold and dark. So instead I take a breather, light some candles, and sit looking out a window. I end up feeling a lot better than before, and usually (this being the operative word) I can manage to get something done after.

If your stress is based more around an issue, such as family or relationship problems, then you might want to take a different approach than my "avoid everything for as long as possible" idea. Try talking it through with the person, or people, involved. Even though I feel like such a hypocrite here because I find this really, really difficult, it works. 

Or if you're not feeling brave enough to come face-to-face with the person causing the stress, write a list. A list of anything. Pros and cons of the situation, why you feel like you do, things that make you happy, literally anything. Getting some emotion out on paper might make you considerably happier and feel like a weight has been taken off your shoulders. 

I mean, I should be doing work right this second but I took my avoidance approach and it worked! Onwards with my dissertation. 

What sort of things do you do when you feel stressed?  


Keep swimming!

| FACEBOOK | TWITTER | TUMBLR | INSTAGRAM | BLOGLOVIN |

Dear Mum

Now the time is coming near,
To say goodbye to another year.
It may not have been the best, it's true,
But it's safe to say we're proud of you.

February brought the news no one wants to hear,
But you took it in your stride and showed no fear.
Even though a few tears were shed,
You chose to fight and smile instead.

After you had the lump removed,
And you came out a bit battered and bruised,
You kept positive the whole damn way,
And cast all the bad thoughts away.

Even though chemo made your hair fall out,
You still looked beautiful without a doubt.
Bradley the wig gave us all a laugh,**
It's always good to have a bit of a 'giraffe'*

Then came radio, three weeks long,
Yet again you remained strong.
It was almost the end, I bet you couldn't wait,
That final day was amazingly great!

And now we've come to today,
Where you have waved cancer away.
You're the champion of the battle, the winner of the fight,
Suddenly the days stop being grey and became bright.

Now we can look forward to our holiday,
Where Mickey and Minnie come to play.
I bet you can't wait to eat at Zaza Bazaar,
And have a drink at every bar!

So now I'll finish on this note,
And from my mind I'd like to quote:
Everyone is proud of you through and through,
And to cancer we all say a giant "fuck you!" 



This is dedicated to my amazing mum who has had the year from hell and still comes out the other end smiling and making ridiculously crap jokes. 

I love you always.

*"Having a giraffe" is a little side joke in our family.
** My mum decided to be funny and name her wig 'Bradley'...as in Bradley Wiggins...