I had a mini panic attack over the weekend, my first unprompted panic attack in a long time. Here’s how I’m dealing with my emotions and anxiety as a Mom.
I had a mini panic attack over the weekend, my first unprompted panic attack in a long time. Honestly, I had no idea what was happening because it was so uncharacteristic of my episodes in the past. I felt like I was trembling, but my hands weren’t shaking. My heart felt like it was racing, but my pulse was steady. My mind felt foggy and I felt like I could pass out. As I stood in the cereal aisle at the grocery store counting my heartbeats, I realized I had to talk to someone.
My cousin is a nurse, which makes her my go-to for health questions. Before I could finish describing what happened, she told me I was experiencing a mini panic attack. Anxiety as a Mom is so common. She had one herself a few weeks ago after doing too much and not sleeping enough.
While we sat in my car talking about life, I began to feel the anxiety lifting off my shoulders. I guess sometimes verbalizing your thoughts is the best thing you can do for anxiety.
Anxiety creeps in when you’re pushing yourself too hard.
There are days I don’t feel like I’m pushing myself hard enough, despite the amount of work on my plate. With unfinished To Do lists, loads of dirty laundry, and unanswered emails at the end of a day, I feel unaccomplished as I lie in bed. Why can’t I be proud of what I’ve done? Who am I disappointing if I don’t do it all?
If you’re wondering what a day is like for me, let’s look at my To Do list today. I have to write three blog posts, edit photos, paint two bathrooms, and take care of my family.
In a perfect world, I’d complete it all by bedtime. In the real world, not everything will be done.
In my efforts to do it all and the feelings of failure when I can’t, I’m exhausting myself physically and emotionally. I’m forgetting about the whole “self care” thing and walking around with a left eye that won’t stop twitching.
You can’t run on an empty tank.
One of my favorite quotes is something about not being able to run on an empty tank. Whether its a tank of love, a tank of energy, or a tank of joy – we can’t make it through a day (or life) with an empty tank. My mini panic attack this weekend has reminded me to make time to refuel my tank. A combination of love from my family, energy from my blog successes, and joy from the beauty around me should be enough.
If you suffer from anxiety as a Mom, or anxiety in general, here’s my PSA for the week.
Take a moment today to stop what you’re doing, inhale deeply, then exhale out what’s holding you back from living the best life you deserve.
We all need to remind ourselves to quit trying to be stronger than we feel. Strength comes from knowing your weaknesses and overcoming what you feel holds you back.
Anxiety is something I did not start experiencing until college. I remember walking across campus and and my chest feeling like a weight being dropped on it. Writing in journal began to ease my worrries and I continued that through younge adulthood. I stated blogging when I graduated from college as the anxiety from these major life changes took a toll on me and I needed an outlet. It’s why I keep pushing forward with it, being able to release is so vital to success in other areas of my life. Great post!
Writing or talking to someone always helped me to come down from a panic or anxiety attack. Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed I find that writing down what I have to do helps me to see that the tasks can be managed. It also helps me to keep track so the list isn’t running through my already overwhelmed brain. When the list seems to daunting for a day, I divide it into “to be done today” lists and “to be done this week” lists. That way you give yourself some time and the freedom to not finish it in one day, without allowing the whole task to be thrown to the waste side. It also helps to prioritize what needs to be done when. Your painting can be a this week task if the blog posts are on a deadline and need to be done today. I also try to be efficient to complete multiple tasks at once, even as simple as throwing in a load of laundry and completing another task while I wait for it to finish. These have helped me, though it is still easy to get overwhelmed!
Yesss self care is a must!!! ??? thanks for sharing 🙂
Ugh, I hate that you had to go through that. I honestly feel like this so often. It’s like a high functioning anxiety almost. I work in addition to blogging. Both are in creative fields so I am always running on empty and feel brain dead! It’s hard for me to turn my brain off too!
Oh man… this is RIGHT where I am at. My word for this season is “simplify.” Even if I disappoint those around me I am making sure I am taking care of myself.
This is so timely. I needed to read that … I am getting a good dose of family time but I am spreading myself thin with work.
❥ tanvii.com
On your to-do list, just the “take care of my family” alone is a full-time job. I have one child (not two) and I often feel that way. I’m sure you have more blogging commitments than I do since it’s your full-time job but it sounds like you’re basically working multiple full-time jobs at once. It’s hard! I don’t know how you’re doing it but I hope you’re able to refuel your tank more regularly. You’re doing a great job!
This is such a good thing to be mindful of — sometimes you don’t realize you’re pushing yourself too hard until you have a little break down!