Don't sweat the small stuff

I have had two pieces of rather rubbish news recently. The first was a whisper of redundancy. The second was the unexpected death of a colleagues wife. Someone I've known for a very long time.

I've found myself in a place of great stress and anxiety recently. Often knotted up, feeling nauseous, panicky and lacking any serious motivation. Anxiety has zapped the get-up-and-go right out of me.

I was feeling like this right up until the funeral of said friend. Worried all the time, stressing internally, that sense of doom lingering over me.

Then I had awakening.

Sure, redundancy is crap. It's going to be bad. A big lifestyle change for both of us as it's very unlikely I'd ever be able to get a job on such good pay, terms and perks. In fact, impossible. But you know, it's not the end of the world. I'll survive it.  I may cry and get angry and upset but life goes on.

What's the point of worrying daily about something that may or may not happen. I've been spending my time getting myself all twisted up in knots, feeling paralysed and resentful and it's time to take back control. 

I've still got my health and I've still got my family - who are also in great health. We're financially secure and we'll manage whatever happens.

I'm making the decision to not stress. It's difficult but with deep breathes and trying to focus my attention elsewhere, I am getting there. The old cliches of "you only live once" and "life is short" have never rang more true recently.

Losing my job? Really that's the small stuff in life and I'm trying hard not to sweat it.