STRESS!

Today is the cutoff day for signing up for the company buyout and if they don’t get the assigned number of people to take it, layoffs will be coming right before Christmas. As I have stated previously, the newspaper business that I have been in for nearly 30 years is in trouble, big trouble and we are just one of many papers that are laying off people. No new news here but the economy is doing so poorly that they increased the number they want gone from 38 to 50. In my book that is stress.

Not only will some of my friends and colleagues be leaving but more of them will be gone then we initially thought. We have a tradition in our newsroom of clapping people out when they leave as a sign of respect. Frankly, it is more like sounds more like taps to me. It is just hard to watch your profession dwindle and even harder to be one of ones still standing to pick up the slack as others leave.

In the past my sorrow would lead me to the nearest candy dish but that isn’t an option with the weight-loss mission that I am on. So I have been reaching into my desk drawer and grabbing my container of sugar-less gum. Not what I really want but I can take out my aggression in a nearly calorie-free way.

Stress is everywhere these days and learning to deal with it and not packing on the pounds is still a struggle for me and for so many others. But it is important to take it all in stride and not take it out on our poor old bodies. When it gets really bad I grab for my tennis shoes in my desk and take a quick walk outside to clear my head. Yep. I burn off a few calories and I increase my distance from the office candy dish.