New Year, New Attitude by Heather Bowles

Happy new year, ladies! I hope the day finds you well. Everyone around me is talking about resolutions, and a few of my friends have extensive lists of things they plan to change. As for myself, the beginning of each year generally starts with little to no immediate effort on my part for improvement. I find resolutions to be no less than an invitation to fail at whatever radical change I might aspire to, and instead prefer taking baby steps toward a larger goal all year through.

As the first week of 2013 winds down though, I find myself in need of a severe attitude adjustment. The holidays were the most stressful I think I’ve ever endured, and I spent a large part of December angry. Angry at my husband for being unable to provide enough money for us to exchange gifts with each other. Angry at him for spending so much time away from his family in the evenings when Tabitha’s mood swings are the least manageable. Angry at his workplace for being so tightfisted that his Christmas bonus was no more than a percentage discount that we were required to use within 3 days in the middle of a pay period when all the bills came due. Angry at the weekend triage nurse on call for my daughter’s pediatrician being so slow to return a phone call. Angry at myself for… for a multitude of reasons.

All this anger has made me less patient, less productive, and less flexible than I need to be. My child is becoming more aware of my stress, and she needs me to model good stress management techniques now if I can ever hope for her to manage her own emotions. Someone suggested controlled breathing techniques, and I’ve been practicing them, but they seem to do little but make me feel sightly lightheaded. I’d like to get back in a swimming pool, and lose those last 10 pounds of stubborn pregnancy weight, but a gym membership is one more expense we can’t afford, and the one yoga video available for streaming seems to have had it’s availability yanked when I wasn’t looking. Thanks for that, Netflix!

The one thing I find helpful so far? My new food processor. I bought it for the purpose of making edible gifts for the in-laws this year, and it has since become my new favorite toy. It has opened my pantry up to a multitude of culinary concoctions which were impossible to create up to this point. Using it makes me feel productive, enables me to use more raw ingredients, and stretches our pantry dollars. I expect it will take a few months for the savings to pay for it, but in the meantime, I’m enjoying learning it’s capabilities, which so far seem endless. The only danger now? Not gaining about 300 pounds! Now THAT would be cause for me to get angry with myself.

What do you do when stress seems too much to handle? What are your favorite kitchen creations?

Tags: Anger Management, change, cooking, flexibility, New Year's resolutions, patience, personal productivity, stress, stress reduction, stress relief, swimming, yoga