Dear LPG, 

I recently read a poem on your pages about stress and just reading the beginning of it brought the feelings right back to me (►►►).  Now that I am a seasoned pensioner I find that there is no need to stress quite so much  Now that I am a seasoned pensioner I find that there is no need to stress quite so much but we all have those days.  Just reading the beginning of the poem brought back a lot of emotions that I so recognise and I have no doubt that other readers identify with.  

Some of the time we know exactly what is causing it, there will be something that we are waiting for, that is taking too long to happen or something we need someone else to do before we can finish a job or perhaps there is a bill that we are stressing about because we don’t know if we will be able to afford it.  I think that, if you have to be stressed, that that is the better sort of stress to be caught with because you at least have an idea when the stress will end and you can ascertain the worst thing that might happen.  In other words, while you are waiting, you can try to work out what you can do if the worst outcome occurs.     

I think that the very worst type of stress is caused when you feel like repeating the first line of the poem I mentioned and I know that I have been there.   In my experience, the worst kind of stress happens when you cannot identify the route cause because if you cannot explain it yourself, it will be even harder to explain what you are going through to anyone else.  

So many of us live alone these days and feel that it is pointless bothering someone else with our problems, and we are really good at hiding what is going on inside for an hour or two when we are out and about with a few other people but, if you can’t put your finger on what is wrong and you feel silly trying to talk about something you can’t actually understand yourself, it can so often feel like the only way is down.

Perhaps the hardest part of finding your way out is realising that you are in this situation in the first place.

I would ask that if this poem resonates with you as you read it, because you find yourself right there right now, you at least talk to someone about how you feel or do something about it.   

More of us live alone and can hide stress for long enough to leave the people that we know having no idea of what we are going through when we talk on the phone or meet with them, if there are any.  We people have a serious knack for only showing the positive aspects of our lives.

I am no specialist and my only expertise comes from my experience of having been there.  Even though some might find it clichéd, like the lady who wrote the poem, I am a believer and find a lot of comfort and solace in the Bible, but I also took a look at the internet where there are a couple of other suggestions that might help.  I have asked LPG to share them in the hope that they do a little good…    

AF, Bellingham.

AF shares what she has found…

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