In life, dealing with stress is as unavoidable as getting caught in the rain. I take as much care to avoid stress as possible but it happens. I think because I am so cautious that I miss out on things too. Life experiences that one can only get from pushing yourself through a stressful situation. If you avoid people that trigger you emotionally, do you ever gain the ability to deal with that type of person in the future? If you have an irrational fear, can you overcome it if you don’t ever face it head on?

I’ve taken a break from writing for a bit to buy a house and move. Barring having to deal with my mental health issues, it is possibly the most stressed I have ever been in my life to date. (Yup you guessed correctly, I have no kids.) There was so much planning involved, and paper gathering, and packing, AND, AND, AND! The anxiety, stress, and effort just didn’t seem to end, but it did, and it was worth it. There was some unavoidable stresses like the hours of tracking down papers that I didn’t bother to organize sooner, or the 50+ emails just between me and the bank.

The most stressful part about it all for me was the preparing to move. It was emotionally draining. I personally didn’t even pack, my wife handled that part incredibly well I might add. I had to handle the notification to my landlord that we were going to move, and that was huge to me. Whenever I have to interact with people and/or disrupt a long standing routine, I run scenarios for what is the most likely outcome. Sometimes it works, sometimes I’m way off, but it’s always a lot of thinking and stressing about outcomes, on top of that add the fact that the closing date kept moving, made for a big change with a variable timing to reveal that I would be moving. ARGH!

I did what I had to do with 2 weeks left on the clock for the month that rent was paid, and the outcome was actually incredibly underwhelming compared to the scenarios I had built up in my head. His response was actually “Well, It was going to happen sooner or later.” That was it, no arguments, no unreasonable reaction, even very pleasant. I had worried so much and for nothing but undue anxiety and stress that distracted me from the adventure of something new, purchasing our new home.

The point is, when we worry about the unavoidable, and the smaller things in life, we tend to miss out on the grander adventures and experiences life has to offer. We miss out on the opportunities to give these moments the time they deserve, and share them fully, without distraction, with loved ones. Certain instances, I have wasted moments like these in my youth. So many moments taken from me because of my battle with mental health, a battle I wasn’t aware I was fighting for the longest time.

With the help of my family, friends, and a strength that I found within myself through age and education of my mental health issues, I have found myself happier and my life has improved with every passing day.

I still have moments where I don’t get to enjoy myself as much as I should, but I am more aware of these moments and still enjoy them. Best of all, I share my adventures with the ones that matter to me, that care about me, and with those who will listen and take time to learn from my mistakes so maybe they make less of them in their own lives.