Stress to the roof

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake up early and go for a walk—great way to start your day.

Listen to fun, upbeat music or a comedy podcast during your commute—great way to adjust your mood.

Take breaks during work to get a cold drink or walk around the block—a change of pace helps.

Don’t be a martyr—the teens should be doing a lot of chores. You don’t want to send them off to college unequipped to cook, clean, run errands, etc. They need these life skills before they go away.

Take an evening walk—ideally with your spouse or a kid. Great opportunity to relax and reconnect.

Put fun things on your calendar. You should prioritize family travel before the kids launch. I like to have a trip to look forward to on the calendar. Aim for quarterly trips, even if they are short.

No booze. Seriously. It makes everything worse.

Enjoy visiting your elderly parents…they don’t live forever.

Be grateful instead of stressed. It’s a mantra that helps you reset your attitude. It works.

This seems like toxic positivity to me.

It’s pretty unfortunate to get to midlife and not see where you can control your own actions and attitude.

[Anonymous]

My vacation started today. I take several vacations a year, work part time, and don't take work home. It's all by design and took years to get to on minimum wage.
Teen is going to community college. I don't think there's much of a process but signing up and going.
DH doesn't exist and is probably the best part of my life.
Parents live abroad. They have never visited and never will. They love their lives in the old country.
Teen is not moody, but quite reasonable. He has a chill life.
'My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do.' Francine Jay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake up early and go for a walk—great way to start your day.

Listen to fun, upbeat music or a comedy podcast during your commute—great way to adjust your mood.

Take breaks during work to get a cold drink or walk around the block—a change of pace helps.

Don’t be a martyr—the teens should be doing a lot of chores. You don’t want to send them off to college unequipped to cook, clean, run errands, etc. They need these life skills before they go away.

Take an evening walk—ideally with your spouse or a kid. Great opportunity to relax and reconnect.

Put fun things on your calendar. You should prioritize family travel before the kids launch. I like to have a trip to look forward to on the calendar. Aim for quarterly trips, even if they are short.

No booze. Seriously. It makes everything worse.

Enjoy visiting your elderly parents…they don’t live forever.

Be grateful instead of stressed. It’s a mantra that helps you reset your attitude. It works.

This seems like toxic positivity to me.

It’s pretty unfortunate to get to midlife and not see where you can control your own actions and attitude.

I think we can to some extent. I will say that on Instagram the people who speak that way to others usually have absolutely charmed lives and everyone in their shoes would also feel very positive. It's a lot rarer to see positive coping people with big issues. I really admire those types. They tend to not really give lessons, other than show how they live their lives.
Options

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake up early and go for a walk—great way to start your day.

Listen to fun, upbeat music or a comedy podcast during your commute—great way to adjust your mood.

Take breaks during work to get a cold drink or walk around the block—a change of pace helps.

Don’t be a martyr—the teens should be doing a lot of chores. You don’t want to send them off to college unequipped to cook, clean, run errands, etc. They need these life skills before they go away.

Take an evening walk—ideally with your spouse or a kid. Great opportunity to relax and reconnect.

Put fun things on your calendar. You should prioritize family travel before the kids launch. I like to have a trip to look forward to on the calendar. Aim for quarterly trips, even if they are short.

No booze. Seriously. It makes everything worse.

Enjoy visiting your elderly parents…they don’t live forever.

Be grateful instead of stressed. It’s a mantra that helps you reset your attitude. It works.

This seems like toxic positivity to me.

It’s pretty unfortunate to get to midlife and not see where you can control your own actions and attitude.

I think we can to some extent. I will say that on Instagram the people who speak that way to others usually have absolutely charmed lives and everyone in their shoes would also feel very positive. It's a lot rarer to see positive coping people with big issues. I really admire those types. They tend to not really give lessons, other than show how they live their lives.
Options

May I gently offer that Instagram is not real and not a source you should consider?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lexapro.

This.

And mindfulness. I’ve been listening to Tara Brach in the car, doing her (and others’) guided meditations. I am no longer on my phone after 9:00pm. In bed by 10. I aim for a full 8 hours of sleep. It doesn’t always work perfectly and I know this advice is tiresome to hear when you just want a magic brush stroke to fix it all (been there) but I’ve moved on to acceptance. Can’t change the work, DH work, teens, parent issues so I’m just finally changing myself.

Good luck to OP and everyone else going through the same!