Caught in a rip current.

Don't know how to start really. I am shattered. Three surfers lost their lives at Mawgan Port near Newquay yesterday. There were seven people altogether who got in difficulties while surfing, Four children managed to get safely to the shore, three adults were not that lucky.

This tragical accident provoked a debate on presence of lifeguards on the local beaches as they only work during the summer months. Cornwall attracts surfers all year round though. I often see people surfing during Christmas break.

Articles and videos on do's and dont's while caught by the current popped out everywhere.

Don't panic. Don't try to swim against the flow. Wait and float.Stretch your hand and wait for help. 

I am not sure what was the relation of the adults who lost their lives and the children who survived. May they rest in peace.

Are all causes of my stress worth talking about? Life is a miracle after all. Being is a miracle.

Step 1: Realized I have a problem.

When I first started teaching I considered myself as resistant to stress and highly adaptable.

I am a natural doer and stress used to motivate me. However, as I started to take on more and more responsibilities (and money) at work my relationship with pressure turned into a bad romance ;-)

In the last month stressors, started to chase me like a huge snowball. The more stress I experienced the more vulnerable I became. As I was getting closer to the peak of pressure even little things I used to accept, became my personal dramas.

Just to give you and idea and a few words of warning: here is a list of the signs of stress I experienced:

- short temper,

- excessive sweating,

- feeling discouraged,

- waking up tired and tearful,

- losing hair,

- talking very quickly and interrupting other people,

- anxiety and aversion to my office,

- being scared of answering the phone,

-feelings of getting to the brink

 Can you add anything else to the list?

Now... how to find the way to my happy self ? 

The photo below was taken in September this year [; I haven't started teaching yet and it's been a month we've had our Lurcher. Happy Days! Life is not that awful after all.

No more mourning, time to act!

Hi!

Yay! We've made it, got to the half term.
I will not write how I got to the point of being overloaded with work related stress. I am done with complaining... I am up for action!
In this blog I am going to share methods and strategies for de-stressing and finding my way back to the Happy Me ;-)

My action plan:
1. Realized I have a problem.
2. Name and pin down causes of stress.
3. Shared my list of stressors with my manager with a kind back up of my colleague (It is amazing how empowered you feel when your are not alone!)
4. Speak to my GP. What's the extend of my stress? Is it still 'just' stress?
5. Seek support at work (colleagues, OHT, union reps) to make health and well being of staff a priority BEFORE targets and benchmarks.

There are two things I want to achieve: first take care of myself and recover then use my experience to finally start to manage work conditions for myself and my team.