Funnily enough I had been wanting to write this post for about a week now but things always get in the way causing me to stress… which was the whole point of wanting to write this post.

Lately I have had so much stress on me, most of it caused by situations that could be handled by the people causing them so much better. But I won’t go into that. What I have been noticing is that when I’m already stressed things compound quicker no matter what I do. It’s like that old quicksand adage, the more you move the quicker you sink.

I used to deal with stress at work by making sure that I didn’t take stuff home with me, but that’s just not practical some days, I also used to make sure I left my desk to take breaks, again not always practical (I actually haven’t taken a proper lunch break in almost 6 weeks, let alone a the 1 actual 10 minute break I’ve taken in a month).

A number of things cause stress in my life (and In everyone else’s).  A number of them affect everyone (work & dealing with public transport come to mind) but that is life. The joys of everyday life. We all try to cope in our own little ways. I have been struggling to find an outlet lately that will help me cope at times. Till I realized I was doing it all along and just not realizing.

After a really stressful day (more like week) I made sure I got my butt to a boot camp session no matter how late I was going to be. Everyone else was late that day so my 10 minute delay was fine. By the end of the session I was feeling much better, relaxed for the first time all day. Was that my answer now? Was exercise my outlet? Looking back it has been an outlet for a while. That early morning run, the boxing class to work your arms out, the morning walk to the bus stop. Had I really changed so much that this was now relieving stress?

I never realized just how much those days were helping me out when I just pushed myself to take that extra km or work that little bit harder, I always felt better after I just never realized I was coping with my own stress. At least now I don’t feel like that extra bit of exercise is causing me pain to my body or my life (by taking away time I could be doing other things) in fact it’s helping me deal and cope with life, and of course helping me stay fit in the process