Day 9 Day 9

I have a very stressful job, which can sometimes mean, when it's not stressful and I want to give myself a mental break, I feel bad about it. I find myself worrying that I'm not doing enough, even though my body and my mind is clearly telling me I need a break and some rest. In the name of mental health, I've begun to shift my perspective on these thoughts. "What is more important, that I give 110% or that I feel happy at the end of the day", "life is short, mental health and your well being are more important than stressing over if you are busy enough". These little thoughts have helped me a lot. I also think it has helped that I am more tenured now, and my historical work ethic and work product have been strong, that I should be confident in myself, and if I need a little break, I should take one. When I was still trying to figure out what was "structurally" wrong with me, I quite literally did not have enough time in the day to see a doctor. I would get stressed that I was missing too much work because I was trying to take care of myself, how screwed up is that. That whole cycle kind of just spiraled, especially because PT and Chiro would take up multiple days per week. I was exhausted mentally at that point. It wasn't until I stopped caring about missing work to prioritize my health, or really stopped feeling bad about it that I saw myself destress and feel better about each session.

Your life and well being are more important than any job, any sum of money, and really just about anything. Take care of yourself, and put yourself first.