Apparently, my supervisor thinks I’m stressed out.

See, I work as a counselor in an elementary school. Have I mentioned that on here before? I can’t keep up with things anymore. I’m too stressed out. Anyway, we’re coming up on the end of the school year. Less than five weeks remain until the glorious days of summer.

But aside from the counseling gig, I’m getting ready to start classes to work toward a teaching certificate. I also work part time as the Children’s Ministry Assistant for my church. Throw in the fact that I’ll be moving out of my current house in the middle of July but I don’t have anywhere to move to yet, and it’s fair to claim I’m stressed.

Stress doesn’t usually get to me. I don’t tend to worry about stuff. Hence the fact I’ve yet to find a new place to live. But when it all piles on at one time, it’s hard to avoid getting a little bogged down.

Today, during my weekly supervision meeting, I was told that it’s important for me to take care of myself if I intend to continue working to help others. In a way, that makes a lot of sense. Problem is, I don’t know if I know how to take care of myself. In so many aspects of my life, I’m concerned with making sure others are taken care of, that they have what they need.

This whole deal of not knowing how to take care of myself goes way back. I grew up with a compulsive need to not disappoint people. Now, I’ve gotten over that to a certain extent as I’ve grown older. But I never really figured the whole self care thing out. In fact, I can safely say I’ve never been on a real vacation in my adult life. I flew out to LA a few years back and had a great time, but I was only there for 4 days. Not really enough time to decompress. Or so I’m told.

So I’m looking for suggestions. How should I decompress? For cheap? Or free? Also, can I do this while still keeping up with all the responsibilities I currently have?