Weight of a Stressful Day

I feel it — the weight sinking in.

In my world, on that Wednesday morning, it was the wreck that was the kitchen and the mess that was under the table.  And it was the Work Permits that needed to be applied for and it was the email that had to be answered sometime that day.  It was, maybe mostly, the kids in front of me that desperately needed more attention than I could muster to give, they that needed more schooling than I had planned for the night before.

And the weight started to bear heavy on my shoulders.  My breath seemed shorter, and my head started to hurt and panic was the in-coming tide.

And in your world, maybe you’ve tasted days like those, days when the weight begins to creep in, unaware . . .

And it’s the grades that are due in two days, though you’ve yet to grade the math papers from last week. And it’s the parent who needs a phone call back and the bookshelf that’s disorganized and the staff meeting you need to attend– during your only planning period.  It’s the State Tests that loom large, right around the corner. And it’s, maybe mostly, the 12 or 26 or 75 students that all have Stories and needs and days and issues, and it’s the reality that there is still, only,

one of you.

And, so, the burden starts to bear heavy on your shoulders.  Your breath comes a bit shorter and your head starts to hurt and panic becomes an in-coming tide.

The symptoms of stress mount as you struggle to carry

too.  much.  weight.

And I have no answers to the very real demon that stress can become in a woman’s life, a teacher’s life, a mother’s life.  All I know is what my mama once told me, in the midst of moving boxes and saying goodbyes and dragging kids to the post office for passport photos.  She said,

“Honey, all you can do is the next, most important, thing.”

The Next. Most-Important. Thing.

I guess that’s a start.

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What stresses you out the most?  How do you handle stress?

Tagged as: inspiration, quotes, stress, struggle