Seriously? "Reduce Stress!?"

The #1 advice I read over and over again is "reduce your stress." These articles/books/blogs will often go to on suggest "take deep breaths" or "go for a walk." Now I'm not saying these things don't work, or that it's a great idea to try and keep stress down. But you know... life happens! Like this gem I encountered today.

Are you serious?

I spent an hour on a major company website filling out a detailed application only to have it eaten and vanish when I hit submit. That's real life stress right there. Not to mention I'm having to job hunt again after only being employed for barely a month. But I'm supposed to just not let it get to me and go for a walk?

Well, it's no surprise that I woke up to a bit of a flare this morning. I also was really busy this weekend. And despite my husband making me take breaks, I still managed to do too much. My hands hurt and were stiff. The worst since starting the Plaquenil. I was thirsty all night and just felt sore this morning. Oh! My face is also breaking out. Yeah that's the face of stress.

But back to job hunting for a second. 

This is a standard question all employers ask. I never thought much of it before today. (click on it to see it larger if you don't read chicken scratch.)

So I ended up checking "no" because the descriptive words they used were things like "substantially limits a major life activity." And frankly also because it's not their business. So far I can work around all of my needs just fine. If I required some ADA services or major accommodations that I couldn't provide for myself I might have checked "yes."

I really hate that employers expect you to disclose something so deep and personal in such a way. In fact, I think it's really awful. And there's the "s" word again, right? "What if I mark yes? Will they not hire me because I said I have a disability? If I mark no and later need accommodations will they fire me for not disclosing sooner?" These are real life concerns.

Another reason I marked "no" is that I'm still figuring all this out. Until I know 100% what's going on I don't think my employer needs to know. 

So yes, I try my best to keep stress at a minimum, but some days I'm more successful than others. And after 2 hours on a cruddy website I was rewarded with this alert.

YAY! PICK ME! PICK ME!

I've applied for 5 jobs this morning and I feel good about them. I'm hoping something will come through soon. Now excuse me while I go eat some breakfast (food always lowers my stress.)