[Sparkle]

I've had stress overload for so long that I nearly hit my breaking point recently. There are, of course, a litany of reasons that my stress hit this crisis point.

I thought I'd share what I'm doing *about it*, my baby steps...

I've been prescribed an anti-depressant for (what had become) pervasive anxiety; I'm doing another course of EMDR for my PTSD symptoms. I've found that in the last 10days the combination has alleviated most of my daily anxiety.

With anxiety out of the way, I'm hoping that other healthy lifestyle choices will shift the depression that has settled over me from the cumulative effect of all my short and long term stress.

I'm trying to make decisions every day that reduce the stress I feel. I know I can't instantly change the external stressors that impact me, but I can change how my body and mind react to them.

I am aiming, every single day, to sleep for 8hours. That means going to bed ridiculously early (9pm) because I know it takes me at least 1-2hours to fall asleep. For me, it also means not logging on to my computer after 8pm because it "jigs me up", not watching television (computer) in bed, not eating after 7pm, only drinking water after dinner, turning off my phone at night... These are all hard habits to break, but I see results when I do break them.

Now that the snow has melted and the daylight has increased, I am consciously increasing the amount of time I spend walking my dog every day. We're up to a 45min walk in the afternoon/evening; as well as our quickie 15min walks first thing in the morning and last thing at night. My aim is to always give him an hour walk in the afternoon and then to add additional exercise that is just for me (pilates, yoga, and eventually starting to run again).

The combination of the medication, sleep and the slowly increasing exercise are starting to help me build a new routine - in to which I can continue to navigate the daily stress of managing too little money, searching for a decent FT job (instead of juggling freelance and PT work), planning and cooking nutritious low cost meals and keeping a tidy house.

And ultimately I aim to *like my life* again, even with the stress.