Stress.....

I think I am losing my mind. For the past two years and a half years, I have been striving towards obtaining my master’s degree, working part-time and raising three children. Thank God I have a supportive husband who has been tremendously helpful. For the first two years, all of the juggling somehow felt manageable. However, this semester, which is my last semester, has been very overwhelming. It all seems to be unraveling. I started the semester with the flu, which led to an upper respiratory infection, which led to strep throat. Now, approaching the end of the semester, I believe I have finally reached my breaking point. Two weeks ago, I was working in the computer lab and I left my flash drive in the computer, which contained all of my upcoming work. Security was a life saver and retrieved it for me. If that wasn’t bad enough, a week later I stopped into the same computer lab for about ten minutes and left without my laptop. I did not even realize it was missing until hours later. Unfortunately, when security went into the lab at 11:30 at night looking for the computer, it was gone. I spent the entire night awake and nervous. I raced over to the lab first thing the next morning and discovered that a Good Samaritan had locked it up safely for me. I am eternally grateful. Forgetting these things, having no recollection of conversations or things that happen is not normal for me. I believe that it must be the result of excessive stress. Everyone has stress and it is amazing to learn what stress can do to a person. Stress can cause headaches, illness, high blood pressure, memory loss, heart disease, depression and dental problems, just to name a few of the side effects. According to a survey conducted in August 2010 by the American Psychological Association (APA) the majority of Americans are living with moderate to high levels of stress and doing very little to change their situation as a result of being too busy. According to Web MD, making lifestyle changes that ease daily pressures, eating healthy, getting organized and maintaining adequate sleep are some of the ways in which stress levels can be reduced. I think I will start taking steps to resolve my stress levels in about two weeks, when I am done with school. Until then, I will just have to take comfort in the fact that my head is attached to my body and I can’t possibly leave it anywhere!

For more information on this study go to:                                                                         

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/index.aspx    

To discover your own stress level visit:

http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/life-change-stress-test

For steps to reduce your stress check out:

http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/reducing-stress-tips     

Vocabulary      

Striving (verb) - to exert oneself vigorously; try hard

Tremendously (adjective) - extraordinarily great in size, amount or intensity

Overwhelming (adjective) - overpowering

Stress (noun) - the physical, mental or emotional strain or tension

Good Samaritan (noun) - a person who gratuitously gives help or sympathy to those in distress

Adequate (adjective) - as much or as good as necessary for some requirement or purpose

Resolve (verb) - to deal with or to settle

Fill in the Blank:

1. He is ________ to get a 100% on his test.

2. She was ___________ helpful with the project.

3. All of the work has become _________.

4. Almost everyone suffers from ___________.

5. The ______ ________ returned the lost dog to the proper owner.

6. She gained ten points on her essay because her response was __________.

7. The boys were able to calmly  ________ their differences.

Grammar Point

In this blog, I have used a great deal of -ing words. The -ing form of a word can be used like a noun, a verb or an adjective. Write a list all of the -ing words in this blog and indicate whether it is a noun, a verb or an adjective.