Stress-Free Life

Stress-Free Life Episode 299

Is it possible to have a stress-free homeschool life? Let’s see, how has worry ever changed the outcomes? After over thirty years of homeschooling and my share of worry, I realized there were some unanswered questions and I needed to look at these questions and realize they were impacting my homeschool life as well as my stress level. Today I want to challenge you! Yes, you can live a life with much less stress, and one way is to identify the things that stress you and work on ways to make adjustments.

How do we stress? In so many different ways and the amazing thing is sometimes we don’t even realize we are stressed. I didn’t even know I was stressing until my jaw was aching and the inside of my cheeks were raw! My body knew I was stressed but apparently, I was too focused on the stress to check out the way my body was reacting to stress.

This outpatient rehab cherry hill is putting up stress-free month on the Vintage Homeschool Moms’ show and when I was working on my podcasts I realized that I needed to address stress but more importantly ways to alleviate stress in your life and home. So, I came up with a list of questions you can ask yourself when dealing with stress. And, not only that … I created a pdf that you can print out and use to answer the questions. And, here is a thought – you can do this with your children or your spouse. It is a wonderful way to get to the bottom of the things that bother you.

Ask yourself these questions to identify the cause of stress:

What are you afraid of? (Is this a present or future issue?)
1. Sometimes we focus on the future and that overwhelms us. Take one thing at a time or write these things down and that will help.
Is this something you can control?
1. If it is, then how can you make a change in your to-do list or your obligations. Just say no.
If this is, can you do it later or over time?
1. We think we need to accomplish everything now. Sometimes bite-sized pieces over time can help us from being stressed.
What can’t I control?
1. We stress over things outside of our control. For example WHAT OTHERS THINK, politics or some other issue that is out of our control other than prayer. We can not control what people think and we have to focus on our own family. Let it go!
Will worry help?
1. What have you worried about that was changed due to the fact that you worried? Will worry change the outcome?
What can you do to alleviate the worry?
1. If you are worried and it is overwhelming do you have a go-to list of things that will work? Using an essential oil like Lavender or Bergamot. Taking a walk, talking to a friend.
Is there anything you can remove from your to-do list. Even if it is just for a season?
1. I had to resign from a group that put on plays for homeschoolers – my kids loved it but it was overtaking my free time and our homeschool time. Then I was stressing we couldn’t get our school work completed. After resigning I had such peace.
Is there anyone to help you?
1. Trade with a friend or if you have children you can work out a rotation of help. Talk to your spouse.
Is there anything that can take something off your to-do list?
1. I decide not to send out Christmas cards to anyone outside of my family. Another very hard decision but sending out cards was a huge source of holiday stress for me. Another friend gave up holiday baking.
What activities cause me stress and how can you eliminate them?
1. Are you trying to get too much completed in too short of a time? Look at the activities that stress you and figure out how to cut back.

The only way to have a stress free life it to rely totally on the Lord for everything. My mother used to say, “How will you feel about that (insert problem here) in two years?” That was telling. Typically it was about something not important and my mom knew how to put things in perspective for me.

In addition, I’d like you to ask yourself if something you can control – like your to-do list or your activity list must stay on the list, what are the Pros and Cons? Why do you still think you need to keep doing things that obviously stress you out!

I hope this podcast has helped. I didn’t focus on ways to overcome stress because I have several podcasts on this topic and I’ll put links in the show notes, upcoming.

As a Christian, I know that the Lord has been so evident in my life in so many ways. I recently wrote a book about some choices I made in my life, entitled “One More Child” and I hope to release the book in October of 2018 – writing this book was one of the hardest things I’ve done, however, it has been one of the best things in that I could see God’s hand in my life. I highly recommend you write your autobiography and with an eye to God’s providence! When you see how many times that God has provided in your life, this should give you hope that you too can life a life with less stress by relying on Him!