Earlier today, after wrapping up my NaNoWriMo word count for the day, I rewarded myself with some time to catch up on some of my favorite YouTubers.
If you watch the vlogbrothers channel, you know that Hank just had a baby and is on paternity leave (yay fatherhood!), so on Fridays, his usual videos are being taken over by the lovely Sabrina from Nerdy and Quirky, and her debut video in this slot was AMAZING.
I’ll let you take a moment and watch it right now. In fact, I’ll join you.
I love everything about this.
Yes, stress can be a bad thing, but… what I love about Sabrina’s point is that stress, like fat, comes in good and bad forms.
I am the type of person who performs well when time is of the essence. For example, I’ve set a goal for myself to write a blog post every Friday, and I’m holding myself to that goal while also trying to attempt NaNoWriMo, while still working a full time job, and working with teens twice a month for a few hours at a time and planning a wedding and saving up to buy a house (or maybe build one) and taking care of a really smart and active dog and reading more and trying to also spread joy and happiness and good vibes in one of the undoubtedly negative periods of our country’s recent history. And then there are all the shows on Netflix to catch up on. It’s exhausting.
But Sabrina made me realize that if I was doing none of these things, if I was just sitting around and drinking coffee and working on nothing, I would feel no reward. I would get none of the joy that blogging and noveling and bookselling and the wedding planning and everything else brings me.
Good things take work to create, but it’s good work. It’s fulfilling work — and when you’ve worked really hard to get something good, that thing feels so much better.
I’m so glad that I watched this video today and was reminded that some forms of stress are worth having. They are the fires under our asses to get us moving towards the joy in our lives.
So the next time that you’re sitting at your desk, wanting to tear your hair out because STUFF ISN’T HOW YOU WANT IT RIGHT NOW, just take a moment and remind yourself why you sat down there in the first place and try to smile even though your blood pressure is rising. Think about what it is you’re working towards and why this will all be so worth it.
And remember, you can do it. I believe in you.
Speaking of which, what are you working on that’s a source of good stress in your life? Tell me about your happy projects in the comments and let’s support each other through it all!
Spread joy, everyone.
*This is an installment of the Holy Crap This Thing Is Awesome series in which I pick one thing that I am loving right now and I tell you all about it because I want more people to be aware of the existence of that person or thing. I do not get paid for these and I pick them purely based on my own interest in them.