I was chatting with a friend yesterday who was at the end of her rope.   She said she felt like she was clinging to her last shred of sanity.  We have all been there at one point or another.    As she was sharing her feelings of exasperation it dawned on me that men never seem to feel like they are going “crazy” when they are overwhelmed?  They innately realize what they need is a break, not a break down.

“Over the years, I have often called my dear sister, my lifeline, when I felt like I was crossing the line between sane and crazy—when I thought my own nervous breakdown was imminent.  Every time I reached out to her, she reminds me—over and over again—that I can check into a five-star hotel, order room service, and get a massage every day for a week for a helluva lot less money than what it costs to check into a sanitarium. She should know! She is still trying to pay off her medical bills from her a stay in the psych ward and she says she would have been better off at a resort. She jokes that all she got was bad hospital food, scratchy sheets and poor counseling.

So whenever I am so stressed out I feel like I am teetering on the edge of sanity, I call my lifeline—she reminds me there is a reason so many women feel like they are about to have a nervous breakdown: they need a break. And she gives me permission to take one.”

That was an excerpt from my new book, Oh Thank Goodness, It’s Not Just Me. Available  www.Simple Truths.com

Women, you are not alone!  We share so many of the same feelings and experiences.

A trip to the stress-free beach beats a trip in a straight jacket any day!

Lisa Hammond
The Barefoot CEO ®