decompressing in fall

Today wasn't a very good day. It was mostly work stuff. Something that I thought would be easy and routine wasn't, due to people who thought they knew more than they did. It got my blood pressure up way too early in the day, and worst of all, it took me by surprise. It's one thing to anticipate conflict, but it's another whole deal to have it land on your head like an asteroid. I was floored, and couldn't seem to regroup all day long. Mainly because I didn't have time to regroup or process or think about it...I just had to keep going and going. And once something like that happens, it's like the Fates take advantage and more and more weird things happen. For example:

it had been raining all night and all morning. It had nearly stopped. I went outside to my car to get something and BOOM, a bolt of lightening nearly made me wet my pants. It was the only bolt of lightening that had occurred in 12 hours of rain.

In a casual conversation with 3 (three!) different people, at different times of the day, separately, they all cried. For good reasons, I'm sure, but the tears came easy today.

I couldn't seem to pick up on body language. I was flummoxed by my own events and couldn't seem to 'read' anybody. I felt out of kilter.

I had an ethical dilemma. I received written information that I shouldn't have, but it would have made for some juicy reading. Although I think it was given to me intentionally, I don't think it's appropriate for me to read it or have access to it. I intend to give it back, but it's tempting to peek..but I won't.

Intensity. WAy too much of it today.

So, when I left work I had planned to go to the grocery store. I turned my car in that direction and when I got to the store, I just kept on driving. I was in no way ready to focus on groceries or deal with the social climate of a store. I decided I needed down time. Driving is very relaxing to me, so I just kept going. I drove for an hour. For the first half hour, I was lost. I knew that eventually I would come to something that I recognized but I enjoyed the journey until I got there. The leaves had suddenly started to turn. I was on winding country roads with trees close in, a few horses in fields, barns and interesting old houses. I had 3 phone calls in 30 minutes and had fun relating how lost I was. When I finally got to a road I recognized, I took it and went home. I was in a much better frame of mind, which was a good thing because the intensity of the day continued, but I had enough spare gas in my reserves to deal with it. I felt proud of handling my stress in the way I did, and I can't wait to get lost again. And I finally did go to the store late at night, and it wasn't even crowded.