Today I noticed...Sometimes just a little talk helps to alleviate a lot of stress.

The Mister has been a bit snappy for the past week. No matter what he was thinking or talking about, he seemed to have a negative outlook and attitude about it. Then, he started loosing sleep. He would retire to bed when he was sleepy but would toss and turn and eventually get back up and return to the den, his recliner, and the television.

I happened to be awake and sitting in the den the other night and I asked what his worries were. So, he began spilling the beans. He was concerned about the task of getting his hay harvested. His friends had been calling to chat and would ask him about his hay crop and that seemed to add to the pressure. The whole process was out of his control because Mother Nature kept sending rain to prevent hay work. 

He was stressing about some work that is in process at the local cemetery where he serves as manager. The whole process is slowly making it through the red tape of local town government. Yet, there are people consistently asking him about it and wanting to know when the work will be completed. Those folks probably mean well, but it seems to add to his stress level. 

The Mister listed a couple of other issues that were weighing heavy on his mind. I just sat and listened. Yet, I could tell that with every word that he spoke, he seemed to look a bit more relaxed. Finally, he paused and we sat for a moment in silence. Then, I asked him a couple or three questions like, "So, what is the worst thing that might happen if you don't get the hay harvested this week?" He listed a couple of possibilities. One was that the hay would not be fit for the cows to eat and it might have to just be bush hogged instead. I reminded him that his son, Stephen had said he could buy hay, if necessary and that we only have a handful of animals to over-winter. The barn is already half full of hay. So, that would probably all work out. He sat and pondered a bit.

We chatted on back and forth like that for a few more minutes and the entire time I could visibly observe his whole body sort of relaxing. I think he had been keeping all these worries bottled up inside. I think he was mulling over all of the what-ifs that could happen. That was sort of casting gloom on his sunshine and most of it was way beyond his control. So, instead of just airing his concerns and letting somebody reassure him that it was not nearly as big of an obstacle as he was making it out to be, he was snapping over the little things that cropped up. 

I know that I do the same thing at times. Then, when I voice my ideas and hurdles aloud to the Mister, he ALWAYS sees things clearly and makes me realize that it is a molehill instead of a mountain. Why do we allow ourselves to get wrapped up in knots like that?