…as in: your seatbelts.

No, I haven’t gotten on the plane yet–we fly out tomorrow. But I am predicting some “turbulence” over the next few days, so it may be time to prepare in advance for a rough patch.

The next few weeks will be pretty hectic. I fly in tomorrow night, then fly out again the following day for a weekend in Houston. Back Sunday night–and back to packing boxes and prepping for the move–and then I hop in my car Thursday night and drive up to North Carolina to tend to responsibilities up there through the weekend.

The travel will lighten up after that, but I don’t see the activity level dropping off until mid-July.

I know it’s going to get bumpy–it’s only natural that my own stress level would start to creep up over the coming days and weeks. But I really don’t want to start taking out my stress on the people around me. So, as they do on the airplane: I’m trying to prepare ahead of time just in case I encounter some rough spots.

There’s a few things I can do to try to prepare for the heightened activity and stress:

• Double-up on the quiet time. Rather than slacking off, it’s going to be all the more important for me to make sure I am starting off the day with some quiet sitting, and to carve out some time in the day to do the same.
• Remember to stop. My calendar will probably start to fill up over the coming weeks. It’s going to be important for me to make sure I build those short moments of pause into the day–even if it’s only fifteen minutes of looking out my window.
• Allow for missteps–my own and others. I’m guessing that I’m not the only one in the family who will be dealing with some stress and perhaps even anxiety over the move. And much as I am liable to act out on that stress in some way, so might others. I need to not take anything too personally–and when I’m the guilty party, be quick to acknowledge what’s really going on.

And there are other precautions I can take, I am sure, to make this period as positive an experience as possible for the whole family.

Maintaining serenity while in the middle of a serene environment is not really that much of an accomplishment. But to remain caring, calm, and attentive in the midst of chaos–now that is something else!