Sunday, June 9, 2013

Stressed...but Blessed

It's a shame, I haven't written in this blog since April. But this post should do some explaining regarding what's been going on. (And thank you to all my readers - my last blog had 57 reads!)

So, if you know me well enough, you know I like to do too much. I'm always going somewhere, doing something, or meeting someone. I've been called "Superwoman" a few times, and even been teased about my ability to hide my cape. Well, sometimes even Superwoman has to realize her limits... And this Superwoman has been super stressed lately.

The start of May meant the start of a new position at my job (read my last blog entry for more details). I quickly saw the different between being a "college hire" and a permanent employee. Gone were the days that that deadlines were 6 months away, or where my assignments didn't really impact the deliverables of my teammates. I was now a "critical" part of the team and that meant I had to change my mindset. Not only that, but I was thrown into a project that had been started months before my arrival, where the project managers and IT developers used a lingo that even my usually good use of context clues could not decode.

Being the genius that I am, I also agreed to take on a community service project around the same time. I was to co-lead a team to creatively develop, plan, and execute a field day for...oh, about 300 elementary school-aged children. I definitely underestimated the amount of time and effort that such a task would take.

Let me also mention that May meant I was just weeks closer to leaving to compete for Miss Virginia. I had my send-off party to plan. I had wardrobe left to buy and budget for....the piano to practice, gym classes to attend...

Then I decided to enter into a small business case-like competition at work...and then my car needed an oil change...and the keyboard I was using to practice my talent stopped working.... and the weather man was predicting rain for my field day (and our rain date was looking kind of soggy, as well)....Do you see where I am going with this?

I was doing too much: I was stressed out! So today, I said 'no.' I decided that the case competition ball had to get dropped. (Unfortunately this affected my teammate, who originally questioned if we'd have enough time to put our argument together - of course I had convinced her that it would be fine; and, today, I had to eat my words). I am also thinking that tomorrow I will make the executive decision to cancel field day this year; because, our rain date isn't looking too friendly and I can't keep moving the date on my volunteers. (It's a shame because our Superhero-theme was going to be amazing!) I am slowly building my confidence with this project at work and I made great progress with my current deadlines this week: my co-workers are very supportive.

I have always enjoyed being engaged and "plugged-in" to the world around me. I always like to know what's going on (yes, I am nosy). These past few weeks, I pushed myself - further than I've tried to push myself before, for there was more at stake this time around. I was reminded that I am but a mere human - one with limitations and a breaking point. I was kindly reminded, as well, that God has blessed me with a wonderful ability to handle multiple things and to get it all done with style, grace, and poise. God has given me the strength to take what many would see as hurdles, and turn them into opportunities for success. So, yes, when I was asked, "How are you?" in these past few weeks, some days my response was, "I'm stressed!"; but, please believe, I also know that I am truly blessed by God. The successes that I have had in my life have not all come easy; I have learned that I have the power in stressful situations to make beautiful outcomes. I've heard the saying, "I'm too blessed to be stressed!" - I'm not knocking it, but sometimes us blessed folks have to admit when we're stressed. (The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? lol)

~Superwoman
(aka, The Over-Achiever)