It's just another 6 letter word

How do you deal with stress?

It's a common question.  You get asked this question in a myriad of settings.  It's common in a job interview, in a meeting with your boss about managing touch situations, your friends ask you this when they are consumed with jealousy because you always just seem to blissfully out of the situation.

However, the answer is not so common.  Depending on who you ask and when you ask, the answer could be one of a million things.  My answer has certainly changed over the years... and thankfully it's changed for the better.  I used to deal with stress by breaking out into hives around 11PM at night.  I first experienced this in elementary school (really, what was so stressful back then?).  I was visiting my grandma in Arkansas and my flight back to the DFW area was cancelled on a Sunday evening.  That would have put me back there Monday morning and GOD FORBID I be late to 5th grade class.

God forbid.

The next few times were throughout high school and college and usually a result of something pretty big being out of my control, much like my flying situation of 5th grade.  Once I graduated from college and took on my first job, I learned to deal with stress in different ways.  Mainly I learned to not let it get the best of me and send me home looking like I've had a serious allergic reaction to something.

As the years have passed, I've noticed that stress hasn't been a problem for me... like... at all.  Something someone mentioned to me this morning made me think about this.  Where has the stress gone?  Did someone take it?  Did it go away?  Why don't I notice it anymore?

Now, don't get my wrong, there are days that are completely off the charts with crazy and I'm left exhausted by 4PM, but I'm not stressed.  Even when it seems like the 1800 people around me are going to revolt at any time because they didn't line up early enough to get a seat to see Elie Weisel, I'm not stressed.  What in the heck happened?

I've been called "the eye of the storm" by a few people at work.  I can't tell you how I do it.  I can't give you any breathing exercises to control the stress.  Heck, I can't even promise you that going home and watching trash tv at the end of the day will help control the stress.

I can only tell you that it doesn't bother me at work like it used to.

Now, when I'm in the passenger seat of some people's car, the stress level is through the roof.  GIVE ME THE WHEEL, people, GIVE ME THE WHEEL.

And I refuse to say this is a control issue :)

Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off

I'm sure most of you have heard about working smarter, not harder.  Usually when I hear it, I follow it up with "yeah, yeah... easy to say".  In reality, I'm constantly looking for ways to be more efficient in my daily activities.  If I make things smooth for my team, the easier my job is.

Notice I didn't say "if I make things smooth for me".

The more difficult the challenge, the more I like the job.  I like puzzles, I like piecing things together, and I love it when someone throws me a curve ball mid-stream.  I thrive on that environment, however, not everyone does.  There are a small handful of people in my office who's jobs it is to take a jumbled mess of a puzzle and lay it out so that our team can come in and complete it without losing their minds.  I love that and if it were already laid out for me, I would have probably grown bored with things years ago.

Let's pause for a moment to give me a chance to say that I DO not like this atmosphere in my personal life.  I like order, I like ease and I like smooth the moment I step foot in my front door.  It would be easy to pull out the pocket psychologist and retort that this is clearly a result of constantly using brain things while in the office, but that just isn't true.  I've always preferred a calm home and I haven't always worked in crazy town.

Crazy in the office gives me something to solve, crazy in a home causes me to break down.

I've thought about this a lot lately, especially as I start to face a time in my career where I'll start to see a huge shift from daily front line activity to more of a planning from a birds eye view role.  Why do I love the chaos I work with at work but hate it at home?  Is it because I like the outcome at work?  Recognition?  Realization of a job well done?  An entire team working harmoniously because I've helped them to bring order to things?  At home, who sees that?  The Schmoo Cat?  The Sweet Boy who already tells me how wonderful I am on a regular basis?  I'm not sure.

Perhaps it's a classic "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound" situation.

What are some areas in your life that are as different as night and day but you thrive well in both scenarios?  I'd love to hear what make all of my readers tick.