putting stress money in my bank gives me a buffer

I have recently been having a lot of stress. Mostly it's the time of year for my work.  We go through the same craziness every year at this time.  We dread this time of year.

However, after working in the same place for 10 years, and having the same stress this time of year for all those years, I still haven't really planned for the stress.

Part of it is good old fashioned denial.  I just don't like thinking of this time of year; I'd rather pretend it doesn't exist, until, BAM!  It's here and I can't do anything about it.

This year, I am trying to anticipate the stress.  Since I know it's here and only going to get more stressful before it gets better, I am going to try to build up my stress bank to give me a buffer.

I am going to follow the advice of Sage Bennett in her book, Wisdom Walk, when she says to prepare to say "no" to outside and optional commitments.  She also suggests scheduling meditation, exercise and journal writing time.

So, here's my plan:

• I am not starting any new endeavors, even on yournontoxiclife.com
• I am not volunteering to do anything through the village, school, or church (sorry people!)
• I am going to stick to my 30 minutes of exercise in the am before anyone is awake
• I will be even more disciplines (read: anal) about my 10-10-10 meditation schedule; 10 minutes upon awakening, 10 minutes at lunch and 10 minutes before bed
• I am NOT going to start adding a little caffeine into my life to get a temporary fix
• I am not going to procrastinate the paperwork-ey parts of my job, that just makes things more rushed and stressful
• I will also be posting less, (sorry Sheila and Maggie May!)

I can't control all the fuss we have going on at work.  I also can't control how other people will be reacting to it (history has proved people tend to crash and burn).  But I can be prepared to put enough stress cash in my bank to give me a buffer when those uncontrollable forces come a callin. 

I'll let you know the result when all the drama is over; in about 8 weeks!