Everyone feels that level of pressure at some point during the month, week, day, hour...
If you're anything like me, your neck is a constant knot and your head is constantly spinning.
I have always been that typical "Type A" person you often hear about. Always saying yes, planning, making lists, schedules, and always cleaning. Getting perfect grades, having perfect relationships, a perfect marriage, diet, body, etc. This list goes on and on. The pressure became insurmountable.
Owen and I had been married for 5 months when we took a trip to Las Vegas to visit his Aunt and Uncle. We needed a short vacation from school, work, and everything in between. We had a lovely time seeing the city and spending time with his family.
By this point in our marriage, we were juggling two jobs, college, bills, a house, and trying to maintain a healthy marriage. I thought it was going to be easier than what it was, but being the stressful person I am, I started cracking, bad.
I didn't truly realize it until we went to explore Las Vegas one day together, just Owen and I. I wasn't into walking around a thrift store or seeing the Hoover Dam, I just wanted to crawl back in bed. And I was in Las Vegas!
Being me, I ignored it and pretended I was okay. Everything would pass, I just need to keep moving forward.
Something happened in Vegas, and that something was the two cats his Aunt and Uncle had at their house. Of course they were adorable, and my first morning I woke to a cute little fur ball (Dodger) climbing onto my bed and curling up beside me.
Now, I have always been an animal fanatic. I was counting down the days until we moved into our own house and I could finally go to the shelter and bring home 11 cats and 5 dogs.
On the flight home, I got to thinking. I turned to Owen and told him we needed to call our landlady, I needed a cat.
The next day Owen called our landlady and explained our predicament. We had signed a rental agreement and in that agreement it said no pets.
We prayed and prayed.
A few days later she called to say she trusted us: we could get a cat.
Fast forward two months and two kittens later. My general attitude and happiness has increased immensely. I no longer look at things as life or death, but rather as, "Oh wells." Whenever we come home, they greet us at the door and as I am writing this, little Ella is sitting on my lap.
Although my anxiety will seemingly never vanish, I have found ways to lessen its hold on me. Whether it is reading, running, napping, or petting a cat, there are things to push back the stress and the anxiety that has held me for so long.
I guess what I trying to say is that cats reduce stress. Dogs reduce stress. Animals reduce stress. They teach you something about yourself that relaxes the hectic, constant circles of your mind. My "two little girls" (as I like to call them, when I say this in public people think we already have two kids!), have helped me in more ways than I can count.
If you struggle with anxiety, stress, or feel like the world could collapse on you at any moment, please take a step back. Something in your life is not right. Something is weighing you down too much, perhaps your overlooking a solution.
Part of my solution was adopting two beautiful, vibrant kittens. Part of my solution was letting go of "Oh no!" and turning into "Oh well!"
Go pet a cat. Visit a shelter. Take a dog for a walk. You'd be surprised how much our furry friends can relieve even our toughest trials.
