Some Thoughts on Stress

Things have been a tiny bit stressful lately. (I feel like an ass saying that knowing what some people have been going through at the same time, but this is my blog, so bear with me.) The traditional end-of-the-year chaos has been multiplied by the fact that I am having to find a new position and pack my entire classroom for relocation. Because of my trip to Virginia/D.C., this has to be done BEFORE the last day of school - not an easy feat. Most recently, I have been getting my kids ready for a talent show (which we put on yesterday), including creating props, teaching curtain/light/sound skills, and trying to convince them that it will look better if they FACE THE AUDIENCE!

Anyway. There was a moment earlier this week, when all of this combined to actually throw my brain into overload. I could feel the moment when my grey matter finally said, "That's it. I quit." What had been hard became impossible. What had been complicated became confusing. All the very important things on that running list in my brain were forgotten. The file just disappeared. Instead of being friendly, I was crabby and snippy. When I finally got through to the end of that day, I did some thinking on it.

I believe that what happened is my system went into Fight or Flight mode. I reached the point where my instincts decided that I was actually in danger. My brain clicked into survival gear - only that which is necessary for survival is considered. Years of evolution prevented me from actually fleeing the scene (although there was a moment when it was seriously considered), but I was functioning on a purely instinctual level for some time. This, of course, only added to the stress, since I couldn't fight anything OR run away. I had to spend the rest of the afternoon forcing myself to do the things I needed to do despite my defiant brain.

The next morning, I was fine. My brain had gone back to normal and I was able to easily take care of some things that had been completely overwhelming and impossible the previous day. In fact, realizing that I was in Fight or Flight actually helped me. I was able to look at things in terms of Vital/Not Vital. My mental To Do list got a lot shorter and I felt much more capable of handling it. There is something very relaxing about realizing, "Well, if that doesn't get done it won't be the end of the world. In fact, no one but me will even notice."