STRESSED

That's the word that I would use to describe my week.  I am so glad that it's Saturday just to be able to pack away this past week.  Nothing really out of the ordinary occurred, just life.  But it was the compounding of all of those life roles or some would call identity roles that just intersected or as in Spanish " choque" - a collison of who I am.

One highlight this week was that I attended a wonderful in-service training by Barbara Gruener, a General Education Counselor from Friendswood ISD who was a breath of fresh air.   Just one snippet of her talk was the roles that we have and caring for self.  So take a moment of just begin to put behind your name who you are:  Karen Horn, BA,MSW,LMSW (okay, those are just professional stuff) Christian,wif,mom,gdmom,sis,dau,au,fri,co,sstea,col,nei, just to name a few.  It reminds me of that old popular children's book, Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.  The man was a peddler of caps and he would stack them all on top of his head.  He would travel through the town yelling "Caps for sale, 50cents".  He became tired and climbed in a tree and went to sleep.  While he was sleeping, monkeys came and took the caps.  When he awoke, he yelled and screamed for the monkeys to give him back his caps but none of them would do it.  Finally in frustration, he threw down the only cap he had, his very own, onto the ground.  When he did this, all the monkeys threw down the caps and he was able to gather them up and began his life again as a peddler.

Everyday we wear these "caps" of who we are in different orders.  A big wind like what we had  yesterday will topple them right off of our head causing us to have to gather them again and put them back on. The stress and strain of balancing them can be burdensome.  But there is more to us.

If  identity roles were not enough, where the rubber meets the road is our function roles: worker, teacher, counselor, nurse, doctor, domestic engineer (that's a housekeeper), cook, designer, lawn person, writer, tutor, launder, chauffeur, chaperone, supervisor, referee, beautician, companion, coach, repair man, painter,  economist, juggler (keeping all of these "plates" spinning and in the air), administrator, judge, prison guard (if you have had children, you've been one), playmate.......need I say more.  What a resume.  No wonder we are stretched thin (metaphorically speaking). I am weary just thinking about it all.

But, for most of us, we love it and it is who we are and what we do.  So how do we carry this weight while we are taking care of ourselves.  First and foremost,  1 Peter 5:7 says, " Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." (NLT). Draw your strength from Him.  Then do what you can to get sleep, eat well, exercise (it does help to chase away stress, anxiety, depression) and laugh.  Another day, we will add more strategies to our apron pockets.

Darrell posted a great video that I want to share also.  As a preface, can I ask you a question?
Have you pulled a "hamstring" while running in your "staccato heels" running this race of life?  If so, lean on your Father for He cares for you and is able to carry you to the finish line.