It has been a turbulent past few months, with a variety of stresses, both professionally and personally, all piling atop one another. A few months ago, there were the threats of lawsuits after a story was published on claims raised by a legal affidavit. Have also been subject to workplace harassment as of late and, as a friend pointed out, it has all pushed one to reach a breaking point; even just the thought of the chaos experienced when stepping out the house, whether it be the anarchy of city roads, the lacking availability of certain goods, unsatisfactory services, among other inconveniences, can be too much to bear.

Even amid Holy Week, the observance itself serves as a reminder of one of the stresses previously encountered.

Family Vacation: Denied

With Watchmen Daily Journal being one of the few media outlets in operation on Wednesday, March 28, had earlier requested the day off, as there was an extraordinary opportunity for a family vacation – with divorced parents that live in different countries, it was truly a rarity – but, was denied the request (the first time since joining the organization). Managing stress from work is one thing, but when it interferes with an exceptional chance to bond with family, it definitely helped in pushing towards that said breaking point.

It’s a given that everybody has to make sacrifices, but working six days a week and, with the last getaway with Mom and Dad being a visit to Niagara Falls and Toronto, Canada over five years ago (well before moving back to Bacolod City), felt the one day off would be no big deal – was wrong in that assessment.

While the initial stress of the situation has since passed, it begs the question, will vacations be allowed at all? Was hired under the premise time off would be allowed as long as appropriate noticed was provided, but being denied one day, it brings forth a lot of doubt.

Harassment

The earlier case of workplace harassment was one that definitely did a number on the psyche.

What started as a fairly level-headed exchange mutated into being berated by a belligerent individual, who exposed their obsessive and abusive characteristics. The discourse evolved into this person aggressively making contact across several platforms on a daily basis and even demanding personal information – to be honest, it was a scary situation. There was no preparing for the situation to turn so… maniacal.

While, personally, the issue is no longer a pervading matter, it still makes one a bit paranoid as to questioning what minute thing can make some random person become so demented.

Reflection

Given Holy Week is supposed to be a time for reflection – and will be celebrating 35 years on this planet on Good Friday (meatless birthday) – am really hoping a lot of the negativity and pressure subsides after what should be a thoughtful time.

Although, because of the stresses, the means utilized to either relieve or avoid the situation has been able to bring some levity to the overall scenario.

With the daily attempts of backing away from the computer, have been getting more sleep at night; instead of researching throughout the evening until falling asleep and waking up to an alarm and getting back into it before dawn, have been able to relax with the sunrise and listen to a favorite radio show or podcast; the opportunity has also provided extra time for self-enrichment and am back taking Mandarin lessons.

One can hope, after the holiday, time can still be allotted for some of the stress-relieving methods that have turned out to be pretty effective solutions to what has been a massive amount of stress and pressure. Perhaps the much-needed break will also offer a bit respite – and an opportunity to breathe.

A while back, thought contentment had been achieved and was confident of what life would be like for the next couple years; however, as of late, the feeling has subsided and it’s back to figuring out what in the present (if anything) will bring genuine happiness./WDJ