Fear and stress

My question has to do with stress. I am in the military and I recently found out that I’m being transfer to a new city. I knew it was coming but moves like this come with a lot of stress. Such as deciding to sell or rent my house, finding a new house, finding schools for the kids, making new friends and so on. Despite this being a good career move it is still stressful. For a few weeks before that I was in virtual no pain. I even started working out again and was feeling quite good thanks to advice I received on this site. I thought to myself that I had finally figured TMS out and that I was going to be ok, but then I found out the news about moving. Now the pain has returned although it is not near as intense or frequent. I keep telling myself this is TMS. I repeat to myself that “ I am willing to feel my emotions” which sometimes helps and sometimes not. I am wondering if there is something more I can do?

Thanks

Travis

 

I should also mention that I’ve tried journaling about every fear or stress that I have but still feel some TMS symptoms.

 

Pray? Scream? Break something?

I have written about this before but I'll reiterate it. I am strong and I always own a van so I am ALWAYS the person people call when they move. Subsequently I have been involved in an inordinate number of Moves in my life.

Nearly every time I am in the move , the 'Move-ee' (the person whose stuff we're moving) has a TMS attack. The guy might be a total stud athlete and it might be a 60 year old Grandma, but it almost always happens...AND it is always attributed to Lifting, stretching, fatigue etc. The funny thing is a lot of the times that person is directing the rest of us and not even doing that much of the physical lifting.

Tennis Tom showed us this List: https://www.stress.org/holmes-rahe-stress-inventory/ (Holmes- Rahe Stress Inventory)

Look at your list of stressors. New schools for your kids (responsibility) deciding to rent or buy (responsibility) Moving up in your career (pressure,responsibility)
If you notice on the list, even things with a POSITIVE connotation are only a couple of points below their 'negative' counterpoint.

e.g. I always have noticed I am susceptible to a TMS tickler the first day of any new job, even if it's for Great Money with great Guys in a great place. It goes back to Sarno's psychology model and us being little kids inside (low self esteem) papered over with adult confidence (narcissism). So when the 'tickler' comes (usually sciatica) I laugh out loud at how funny I am playing the 'role' of 'grown-up' and go about my business. Literally... I look at the huge disparity between my own image of myself and what a badass I think I am and the truth of how very over conscientious and childish I feel and that makes for some funny chite. Eckhart Tolle calls it the Buddah Laugh.

I wouldn't recommend that strategy to a new person but I sensed from your post that you 'get it' and have already been successful at banishing the symptoms. What you are going through is totally par for the course for a TMSer.

hang in there

peace