My life challenges
Friday, November 06, 2009
I don't like to whine about my problems, but I'm feeling like I need to open up about some challenges I'm dealing with in my life lately:
- Finances - pay cut and loss of income, some "bad" financial decisions, mounting credit card debt with increasing minimum payments and interest rates, medical bills, an adjustable mortgage we can no longer afford for a house we now owe more on than it's worth by about $50,000. We are losing ground each month, and bakruptcy and foreclosure may be in our future.
- Major family conflict and deteriorating relationships with my two teenage boys, even after a year of family counseling. This week I had a major clash with my 16-year-old son--an honor student who is a good kid but is extremely manipulative and arrogant toward me. He told me he doesn't respect me because I am too controlling and absusive with my "power" as a parent. On Thursday he left town for a 4-day trip with his high school band and wouldn't even say good-bye. He lost his cell phone the day before he left, so we have no way of communicating with him while he's gone.
- My sister-in-law is upset with me and I have no idea why--she won't speak to me. I called to wish her a happy birthday and she passed the phone immediately to her husband and wouldn't even say hello.
- Juggling crazy schedules between work and kids--long days and not enough sleep.
- My 1-1/2-year-old boxer dog has had problems with daily vomiting for over a year now, and we can't figure out why. Even on his special food (which is expensive!) he still vomits several times a day. We don't know what to do anymore to help him and are wondering if we need to give him up.
I'm trying to just take life one day at a time and not get too down. Some days are worse than others, and this week was a real doozie with all the tension between me and my son. I am a person of faith, and I know God will see me through this. Even with all these challenges, I know I still have a lot to be thankful for, and I am counting my blessings. I know things could be a lot worse!
One thing I am very thankful for is that in spite of all of the stress, I have NOT been eating emotionally. I even baked chocolate chip cookies and never even had one. I started going back to the gym again this week, and I think the exercise and "me time" is really helping with stress management. I really look forward to my workouts now.