What I’ve Learned From Stress On Mondays

As part of the HigherCallings blog network, I have been made keen to what others are doing in the blogosphere concerning work and faith.  This week Robert Hzurek of Middle Zone Musings is leading a series on What I’ve Learned From Stress.  It’s kind of like a synchroblog of sorts.  If you blog, feel free to join in too.  I have decided to write a post on each day and how stress relates to it.

Mondays can be disconcerting for many of us if we use the weekend to catch up on stuff we haven’t been able to accomplish during the week and weekend.  If we haven’t cleaned off our slate and relaxed a bit on the weekend, Monday can make us feel like we are always behind and cannot catch up. 

I can relate. I’ve had a whirlwind weekend.  I’ve had to write a paper each weekend for the past three weeks.  I’ve had to read a ton.  I have church and other things.  I built a website.  The Dodgers made the playoffs, and their games were late at night.  I have a Victorian Poetry class tonight after work and then I have a creative team meeting for church tomorrow before work and American Literature to 1900 after work.  It’s hard not to feel stressed out when my schedule looks like this.

If I start feeling stressed I must remind myself of the calling I feel and what I want to aspire to, as well as the joy of this life.  Why am I in school?  Not just to get a better job or a pay raise, I enjoy school.  I also enjoy being creative.  And I enjoy church.  So while I may feel a bit stressed about obligations I must remind myself I do not have these obligations for busyness’s sake, I have them because I enjoy them.  

Joy is not an antidote for stress.  Thankfully, it is the hope and reminder of why we are stressed out in the first place, and I can live joyfully with that.