What Is Stressing You Out?
As you can tell by the counter in the right-hand navigation bar, I’m barely more than halfway through the draft of Ransome’s Crossing—which is due in twenty-nine days (and there’s a holiday in there somewhere, too). I spent almost all day Saturday reading the galley of A Case for Love so that I could get my edits sent back this weekend (wasn’t due until Thursday, but with a new editing job coming either today or tomorrow, I wanted to get that out of the way while I could). In addition to getting Ransome’s Crossing finished this month, I have two relatively major freelance jobs to do this month—one due on November 17 and the other one on November 30. When I think about those and then think about how much I still need to accomplish on RC, it seems overwhelming—and that, in addition to general financial worries, is what led me to do some stress eating last week, which kept me from having any loss at the scale at WW yesterday.
But at WW, I had an interesting one-on-one conversation with the leader—started out talking about stress eating, then about the deadlines looming and how it’s so easy to get overwhelmed by stuff like that, especially at this time of the year. And of course, our meeting topic was on . . . dealing with all of the stress in our lives at this time of the year! It served as a great reminder that yes, while there’s a whole lot of stuff going on, I can’t lump it all together and try to tackle it all at once. If I plan and schedule my time wisely—and stick to that schedule—I’ll be able to get everything accomplished. (Of course, as far as the financial stress goes, I just keep running out to the mailbox every afternoon to see if the checks I’m desperately waiting for have arrived. And when they aren’t there, I just keep hoping and praying they’ll be there the next day.)
So those are the stresses I’m dealing with right now: getting RC finished, two big editing projects this month, financial worries, and wanting to be able to have as much time as possible to spend with my folks at Thanksgiving.
What is stressing you out right now? What’s a plan of action you can come up with (or can I help you with) to meet those stressors and deal with each one without getting overwhelmed by it?
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KayeDacus.com 
Woohoo—one source of stress GONE! I think I love my mailman. He just brought me not one, not two (expected), but THREE checks in the mail. The third one was completely unexpected and unanticipated—and very good news. (It’s a royalty check for Ransome’s Honor!!!!) Checking account is back in the black after almost a month of being in or near the red!
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That’s awesome about the checks, Kaye! I love it when God shows me that He already had things under control even while I was yet worrying. I think I’ll try to keep that in mind. My own procrastination is stressing me at the moment. Problem is, the more I stress the more I procrastinate. So I’m trying to move forward by completing at least one major task a day. Notice I said “completing”. The other day I sorted through a whole pile of paperwork that I’d been putting off. Didn’t stop until I was done. Today I’m writing two devotional readings to submit.
Do you have any other tips for procrastination?
I hope you don’t get too overwhelmed with your duties. I know I may have sounded skeptical a few posts back when you were making your decision, but I truly only meant to ask a few questions to help you with thinking it through. I know you felt at peace with your choice. Hold on to that. You can do this!!! I’ll be praying for you.
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Whoohoo!!!
I just want this waiting of the next job to be over. I hate feeling like we’re stuck in limbo and not able to plan more than a couple weeks in advance.
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Congrats!!! Checks in the mail are ALWAYS awesome, so is the fact that you got a royalty check! If I’m not mistaken, that’s pretty darn good news because it means you’ve earned out your advance, right?!? And it’s only been out since July, right?!?
DOing the happy dance for you!!!
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My mom pointed out the interesting thing about the timing of the arrival of the checks . . . if they’d come last week, I probably wouldn’t have agreed to take that regular freelance job offered to me last week . . . and then I would have ended up in the same position again sometime in another eight or nine months—wondering and hoping and praying for that next check to come in. God’s timing is perfect.
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Praise the Lord about the checks (and God’s timing)!
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You’re already getting royalties for Ransome’s Honor?? Yowsers, that’s awesome!
My stress is that we have two mortgages, and each month we wonder how were going to pay them. It’s getting tighter and tighter–we’ve been like this for two years now.
I’m really starting to feel the stress–I’m the one who pays the bills and looks at the bank statement every week. My one-year-old still gets up in the night to eat, and I frequently find myself unable to go back to sleep. The only other time I lost sleep like this was when I had two agents offer representation, and I had to pick one. How I wish things were that “difficult” now. 😀
But in the midst of all of this, God’s been faithful to us and has provided over and over. So it’s not him–it’s me. 🙂 I wish I wouldn’t let it get to me like it has.
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My stress right now is wondering with whom I’ll be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas. As a single person, this is a huge source of stress since a problem arose in our family about a year and a half ago. Before that, I always knew I was invited to my sister’s home and would get to enjoy Christmas with her, her children, and her grandchildren. Now I’m not at all sure I’m welcome to visit her home, which also means I won’t get to see her children or grandchildren. I’m asking the Lord to use this trial for His glory in my life. It sure isn’t something I would have chosen to experience, and is something I’m powerless to do anything about. What grief it has caused me!
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