Day 28-Something that stresses you out

Well if you read my post about 'something I've learned' you'll remember I'm trying to remove as much unnecessary stress from my life as possible. But I think the top stress-inducer for me is uncertainty. And the last year or so has been full of it!

I had lots of uncertainty with my job for numerous reasons. In July 2009 my manager 'quit' - which basically means she went part time only working on one project with no end date in sight. Of course her other responsibilities fell to me, in the mean time. By November 2010, she was back on, full time, but no longer my manager. During this time, my employer (an association) made a dramatic structural change (we became an association mgmt company, offering services to my former employer and other organizations) Not only were there questions about how the process would work, we also had to get to know the other clients and what projects we would work on for them. So when I quit in December, that was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

Originally my husband wanted to go to dental school. The application process starts a whole year prior to the school year you hope to enroll, so back in summer 2009 we were in the thick of getting all his requirements submitted. Fast forward to late winter/early spring 2010, and the plan has changed to the military. If any of you are familiar with military life, it is chock-full of surprises and twists and changes-to-original-plans. First we didn't know when he'd go to boot camp. Then we didn't know what his career field would be. And once he had left for boot camp the biggest question was, where would our first duty station be?

Well, last week we did get our answer - and it was our top pick! But (you knew that was coming, didn't you?) my hubs is in the middle of discussions with his chain-of-command about a possible career switch and/or getting commissioned as an officer. Which creates a fresh batch of uncertainty in my life.

What is my coping mechanism? I try to focus on the now. I cannot change the future, so I choose to not think about it!