How should we cope with stressful everyday life…?
Lately I haven’t been feeling like my old self… I’ve probably been really stressed about a few things without even noticing it… For instance, I’ve been thinking alot about what I’m doing with my life, and finally I’m starting to be able to put words to my feelings. I’m really happy with my job at the moment, I do interesting things, and I feel that I make a difference in the company. The problem is just that if take my current salary, subtract monthly expenses such as rent, food, telephone, I don’t have much left to do things in my spare time, much less travel home to family, friends and girlfriend in Tromsø.
My ideal situation right now would be if Opera would start a QA department in Tromsø so I could live with Marianne (thus increasing quality of life and save money on rent), making it possible for me to set aside some money each month for holidays, a future purchase of my own apartment/house and so on. This really doesn’t seem like much more than a dream at the moment, so in the mean while I’m just trying my best to look at the bright side of life…
A couple of my favourite proverbs are: “youth is what only young people have, and old people know how to spend”, and “life is what happens while you’re planning something else”… They both tell me something I already know, something that I think is bothering me more than I’m admitting to myself: Am I in a sense wasting my life by not living it to the fullest? Then again, what is “living life to the fullest”? I think this differs a lot from individual to individual, but for me it would be (not necessarily in prioritized order):
- Having a job that I like, and that gives me challenges (and that pays well (see next point))
- Being able to afford my own apartment/house, and still be able to travel and see the world once a year or so..
- Living with and spending time with the people I love (girlfriend, friends, family (I haven’t been appreciating this enough in the past))
- Being happy..
When I look at this list, I feel that it seems like something I should be able to achieve, and if I was more of a “What if” person, I’m sure I would drive myself crazy thinking about what I should have done differently in the past – thankfully I’m not – so there’s really only one thing to do: start reaching harder for my goals.
Note to self: start reaching harder for your goals.
Until I’m able to fulfill all my goals, there’s at least one thing that I’m usually very good at:
- Being happy..
…at least being happy considering the situation I’m in… I really consider my greatest personal strength to be that it’s takes a lot to bring me down, and I’m always good at keeping my spirits up even in hard times. This strength also brings with it my weakest side, which is the fact that I like to solve my problems alone, instead of talking to others about them. It has always been like this, so it’s a really hard thing to change, but I’m really trying to open up a bit more.. I’ve come to realize that even though I can cope with most things by myself, why not talk to someone about things instead, thus getting things off my chest, tying closer bonds, learning to know myself better and so on…
A combination of writing this post and listening to some good music has made me feel a bit more relaxed already. Maybe there really is something therapeutic and relaxing about writing about one’s thoughts…?
Tomorrow is saturday, Marianne is coming to visit me for 9 days, I’m really looking forward to that!
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