Jellybeans!

Confession, I love jellybeans! Like really, really, really love jellybeans. But not Jelly Bellys. The other kind of jellybeans. Those are the good ones. I mean really good. They are so delicious! And this is not the point of today's post. So... moving on.

I have this really amazing friend who has a ministry of encouraging moms. She has two little ones and knows that sometimes the hardest part of being a mom is remembering to take care of herself. If you're not taking care of yourself then you're not going to be able to take care of anyone else. She also knows that when her kids are misbehaving she tends to blame herself. She realizes that moms tend to be way too hard on themselves so she does her best to encourage them, partially by reminding them that they are only human.

Some times when I hear her encouragement ti moms I remember that the rest of us need that reminder too. For me this week it took a friend pointing out that I was trying to do everything on the weekend. I was getting too tired during the week because I was stressing, then trying to dk wverything at once and not getting the rest I needed. So she suggested that I do small things throughout the week so that I could rest more on the weekend instead of stressing so much. So I followed her advice and wrote out my list of things that needed done. Then I broke it down by day.

Just having the to-do list helped me a lot. It actually gave me a great sense of accomplishment. Then when I came home I was all prepared to just do my two or three tasks that I had. Instead I ended up so happy I was getting things done that I actually got more tasks done! It was great! I ended up getting more done then I normally would on a work night and even got extra stuff on top of that finished!

So to celebrate I found some jellybeans I had stashed in my room and indulged a bit. What a wonderful end to the day!

To recap there was a point to all this and it's not to tell you how much I like jellybeans. (But I really, really do. And now I'm out so I need to out call my jellybean supplier on my to-do list. For the record, my supplier is my dad. He buys them for me in bulk then just gives them to me at random intervals. Yeah, he's pretty cool. Oh right, I'm off point again.) The point is that when you're feeling overwhelmed there's a few things you can do.

1. Take a breath and remember that you're human. Don't get mad at yourself or talk badly about yourself. Don't get discouraged, just come up with a plan.

2. Make a list. Write down everything you need to do then break it down into manageable amounts, whether it's days, weeks or hours in the day- whatever works for you.

3. Celebrate your small accomplishments, like when I did more then I expected of myself for the day so I had jellybeans. Find your own way to celebrate but make sure you do. It's important to have those moments, it's what give you the encouragement to keep going.

4. Keep going. Even if you lose your way for a bit you can get back on track.

So there it is. The ways to deal with stress and accomplish things. Or at least my way. Hopefully it'll work for you too. And seriously, you should consider the jellybean method. They're awesome.