Relax. Just Do It

"Relax.  Just relax."  The salon worker said it over and over again to me as he washed my hair, glazed it, conditioned it and massaged my scalp.  "Relax. Just relax. Let go..."  Each time I gave in, but then I had to be retold to take it easy all over again.

This seems to be my lot in life.  I can relax for only so long and then I'm alert, tensed and sometimes a bit unhinged with stress.  It is probably why I started having anxiety attacks at twelve.  I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore.  That's something I put aside long ago.  However, if I did make them, it wouldn't be to lose more weight, exercise more or eat less junk.  I try do that regardless if it is January first or not.  My "resolution" would be to relax more, take on less stress, especially self-imposed.  I would try to stop controlling the things that I cannot control, like traffic or long lines, and go with the flow more.  I would take my doctor's advice when he first prescribed me Paxil years ago (which did not work out) and act like, "when I get there, I'll get there."  That frame of mind?  It is as if you are asking me to climb Mt. Everest in six hours.  My brain wants to explode at the sheer thought of it. 

If I believed in resolutions and January first being the starting point, I would say that I would start by breathing first and then reacting to life's situations.  I would think less and act on instinct more.  I would worry less about where the next job is coming from and focus on the life that is happening right around me.  It's more important anyway. 

I would probably start sleeping in more and stop getting up two hours before my kids so that I can accomplish things.  I should probably do all these things with gusto too, shouldn't I?  I shouldn't already be fretting about planning a birthday party that is in February either.  I think I need to start all this now and not wait a day longer.  I think relaxation and less stress should begin now and not on January first.  Then again, maybe I just think too much. 

Original DC Metro Moms post. Victoria, blogs daily at The Mummy Chronicles and Mummy's Product Reviews.