Divorce got you stressed out? Join the club. We all have panic attacks instead.
Divorce has a way of bringing all your worst habits to the surface.
For me that habit is panic. Anxiety. Overreacting.
Did divorce make me that way? Nope but it definitely doesn’t help.
I can’t help it. I go right to the worst thing that could possibly happen. Whether this is this due to my brain structure or my high-strung Southern upbringing I’m not sure.
I’m highly suggestible.
I’ve learned that I can’t watch medical dramas on TV or suddenly I have every ailment.
Remember when ER was the TV show to watch? I diagnosed myself with lots of exotic diseases. Bubonic plague? Got it. Necrotising, flesh eating bacteria, sure I’ll get that shortly.
I come from a family of panickers; don’t mention you’re tired, Lord, you’ve got MS. Blurry vision, Heaven forbid, eye cancer. Or indigestion, you’ve got ulcerative colitis. (No one in my family every thought you hadn’t slept, needed glasses or just needed a good burp.)
Remember the days of the cute preppy headband way back in the 90’s? I wore them all the time.
I had this especially adorable purple suede one. It was a little too tight but so cute I wore it all the time.
And soon the horrible headaches began.
I knew what it was. A brain tumor. Had to be. Of course I never thought that it might be my cute headband. When headbands fell out of fashion, I was miraculously cured.
As I’ve gotten older, thankfully, my anxiety has decreased.
I don’t always jump right to the worst case scenario.
Having a child has definitely calmed me down, but more than anything I think it’s just being in my forties. I’ve lived long enough and experienced enough to know that not everything is that dramatic. Not everything is catastrophic. And even if it is the worst case scenario, I’ll deal with it.
Want to see how far I’ve come? Ebola. I’m not even panicking about it. I know, big step, huh?
The fact that I’ve never been to West Africa, let alone Liberia doesn’t really matter. How’s that for growth? How’s that for not overreacting.
So see, there you have it. The silver lining to getting a little older, maybe we’re all just a little more chill.
Yes, we may need reading glasses but maybe we don’t need to heap on all that ridiculous panic.
Are you a crazy, overreacting panicker too?
Have you been able to chill out at all during your divorce?
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you’ll share this silliness with someone who’s going through a divorce. Remind them that’s it’s OK to panic. We all are.
xoxo-Rosie
You sound just like me…I used to be a hypochondriac when I was younger, then when my son was born my attention shifted to him so all of sudden I was fine or could care less about my ailenments, I had to worry about him. Like you said thank God with age I have changed as well, I think a lot of it is life experiences and as you get older you learn to deal with things better and see them clearer.
Nora
http://www.jacketsociety.com
Nora,
Yes, being less high strung is definitely a gift of getting older. You realize how little some things matter!
And with kids you do have to learn how to not freak out over every little bump and bruise or you’d go crazy all the time! It’s a gift to not be so stressed all the time!