bubble bath.

As I was heading to chapel today, I locked my office door. Not wanting to take my entire set of keys with me, I pulled one off the chain and attached it to my name badge. After chapel, I got back to my office and the key wouldn't fit in the door. I took a closer look at it and it was not my office key, but a spare key to my dad's house in Kansas. There is only one person on our floor with a master key, and I couldn't find her. And my reaction was irrational stress: 1. What are you going to do now? 2. Nice going. If you'd just payed more attention to what you were doing this wouldn't have happened.

While I waited to find the person who could open my office, I headed down on the elevator to the ground floor so I could walk the stairs back up. (Exercise = stress relief)

This morning when I was in chapel I was thinking about all the things that have happened in the last year, most of it being in the past five months. In high school we took a stress test called the Holmes-Rahe Stress Scale and it ranks events with points and the higher you score, the more susceptible you are to major illness due to stress. Take it for yourself here. These are my results:

• death of a close family member
• change in financial state
• change to a different line of work
• large mortgage
• change in responsibilities at work
• personal achievement
• begin or end school
• change in living conditions
• revision in personal habits
• change in work hours or conditions
• change in residence (five different zip codes in the past 6 months)
• change in recreation
• change in church activities
• change in social activities
• change in sleeping habits
• change in eating habits

My score: 427
Over 300 points: This score indicates a major life crisis and is highly predictive (80%) of serious physical illness within the next 2 years.

Uh, yeah. I mean, I expect the stress levels to drop significantly in January. For the next 4 months, I'll be exercising, writing, and taking hot showers. Contributions to my chill-out endeavor in the forms of chocolate or cash will be gladly accepted. ;)

 

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