What things that aren't meant to be stressful do you find stressful?

[reecejackox]

makimg small talk with people

 

[mumto3girls]

Most social situations.

 

[Jen81NYC]

Planning a first vacation at Disney

 

[Carol_]

Cruises
Having a Boss
Making more money than I can spend
Retirement accounts
Public schools
Karate class

 

[sunshine1178]

Car washes

 

[luvnwdwgal]

As someone who suffers from anxiety, even little everyday things stress me out. Like shopping/self check-out, being late for anything, pumping gas, driving somewhere I’m not familiar with, booking airfare, social situations, I could go on and on.

 

[mrsstats]

Vacations until I board the plane

 

[ronandannette]

On-line shopping.

 

[slo]

Planting flowers in my flower pots. I’m always worried I didn’t buy enough and I’m worried that I’m not planting everything just so - it’s ridiculous

 

[footballmouse]

My wash machine. I don't think it's a fancy washer but I don't know how to use all the buttons. I just keep it on the same setting for everything.

 

[Colleen27]

Grocery shopping. I always forget things, even with a list - half the time, I forget to take the list! - and my efforts not to only make it more stressful, which makes me more forgetful.

 

[Moliphino]

Phone calls.

 

[BrianL]

• Travelling, even for pleasure
• Social situations, especially with coworkers
• Cooking anything

 

[luvsvacation]

Fun events, vacations, etc. I have such a strong desire to create the perfect memory that I feel pretty stressed until it’s over and I successfully created the memory I imagined. If something goes wrong and my memory is going to get messed up in some way then I tend to become unglued pretty quickly and lose it over not being able to make everything perfect…which I know logically just makes the memory worse but at the moment I can’t help it. After the event, if everything has gone smoothly and I created the exact memory I wanted for my kids then that is when I relax. If things did not go well (for instance if it rained) I stew and stew thinking about how perfect it could have been and being so upset I couldn’t give my kid the memory I wanted for them. When I plan vacations I plan them perfectly, and at theme parks I have a mental list of all the things I want to do. I can’t usually relax and enjoy because each ride or attraction is just something I’m checking off my mental list. I’m constantly running through my list in my mind. I KNOW this isn’t logical but it’s how my mind works. Everything is a checklist all the time.

When my daughter was a senior she was a cheerleader. Her school was doing amazing and was 1 football game away from going to state. I was SO excited because state was going to be held at the big college in our state a few hours away. Her final game of cheering was going to be the state game in the college arena. I had mental images of the photos I’d take of her that day. It was going to be a memory for a lifetime for her of getting to cheer at the state game. The last game was neck and neck and they were winning a halftime. They lost in the end and I completely lost it! I was so angry that my daughters wonderful memory was being ripped away from her. Never would she have memories of cheering a state game or pics of her cheering at the college arena. I was so full of rage. My daughter was slightly disappointed but totally fine. It wasn’t her dream to have that memory. I’m angry at myself now for not being able to celebrate her final game with her. I was so angry at the moment that that was her final game and that’s how it ended that I couldn’t even appreciate the memory that it was. I can usually get back to rational thought in less than an hour and by that evening I had accepted it and I was fine. But man in that hour or so I completely become unglued every time.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

# 1 air travel
# 2 making important phone calls

 

[TippyThomas]

Anything that involves other humans.

 

[Hillbeans]

Picking up and dropping off the kids at school. There are so many unwritten rules about where to go, where not to go, what doors are open and what doors are closed - plus you have kids crossing the street at all angles and locations.

 

[RamblingMad]

Planning Disney trips.

 

[Carol_]

Picking up and dropping off the kids at school. There are so many unwritten rules about where to go, where not to go, what doors are open and what doors are closed - plus you have kids crossing the street at all angles and locations.

I won’t do the drop off line for all these reasons. Luckily, DS6 loves the bus even if it takes much longer.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Parties. I always felt awkward and wound up standing by the food like a potted palm. Now I save myself the anxiety and only go to one if I absolutely have to. My cousin and my aunt are having a surprise 50th for my other cousin (their Mom and daughter), and since they all live with me and I'm in on the planning I have no choice but to go. And *now* my sister, who I usually sit with at these things when I'm forced to go, can't make it. This means I'll be standing around awkwardly again. I suck at small talk, I don't really drink, I don't dance. Argh!