carriebrighton: Keep Calm & Carry On

Yesterday was a bad day. I was awoken by my housemates coming home in the early hours to discover someone had broken into our house while they were out and I was sleeping. The door had been forced in and fully taken off the hinges. How I didn't hear anything, I do not know, but I can tell you now, knowing someone has been in your house and violated your privacy is one of the worst feelings you can imagine. It was horrible. Nothing was stolen, but if anything, that makes it all the more strange. We phoned the police, who turned out to be a huge disappointment, I'll tell you know that the feeling of violation gets worse when you are accused of the crime you are reporting, and in the end we had to barricade the door back in the frame with sofas, waiting until we could get hold of someone in the morning to fix it. I didn't sleep, and panicked my way through the night instead. In the morning, not surprisingly, I felt just as bad. Less frightened, but stressed, tired, and generally frustrated with the world. Times like this affect all of us, we cope with crisis when adrenaline kicks in, and deal with the situation at hand. Afterwards however, is where it gets tricky. Stress affects all of us differently, for me personally, to 'get over it', I now need a resolution. In yesterday's case, I needed a door. This is where the waiting game, and therefore the coping game comes in. I could sit and panic, or I could occupy myself and try and make myself feel a bit better in the process. I thought I'd share with you what I do to 'keep calm and carry on' as such, and to put it simply: you need a duvet day! Pjs, wooly jumpers, comfort food at its best. My recovery programme consisted of my new Charlie Brown pyjamas, and rewatching a movie I've watched 300 times before, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. A family favourite of ours, I watch this movie repeatedly in the run up to halloween, always have, and always will. Familiarity definitely helps in an unfamiliar situation! In terms of comfort food, it doesn't get much better than pastel purple coloured pop tarts really, it always helps if your food looks happy! A hot drink is definitely necessary, I keep a stash of these Starbucks Via Pumpkin Spiced instant coffee sachets for emergencies. A day of snuggling down and making yourself do these simile things you enjoy really helps. Before I knew it, we had a door again, and things could get back to normal. Fairly stressful though!!