Hello!


YOU KNOW THOSE days when you wake up – and just want to go right back to sleep? It’s not that you haven’t rested enough, but that you’d rather not face the day ahead, with all its complications, demands, details and schedules. It’s just too overwhelming.

I figure I cope with stress pretty well – I don’t go into hysterics or have crying jags when things get tough. But there are days where I feel engulfed, and wish I could zap myself into an alternate, obligation-free reality.

It’s more than just feeling stressed out. It’s that underlying sense of panic and helplessness that your life is slowly spiralling out of control – even though you’ve still got a handle on things.

When I’m overwhelmed, I know I become exasperated and impatient. The other day, my husband called at work to say he’d found a contractor to renovate our daughter’s room. While I was happy that we were moving ahead with a project we’d discussed for months, I was also overcome by a wave of panic from the multitude of details I’d now have to deal with.

Exasperated at how much there was to do, my long-suffering other half was abruptly cut off. I was busy and we would discuss this at home, I said – but I knew I was only postponing the inevitable discussion and planning.

It was such a relief, then, when I found out over dinner a few weeks ago that other women were feeling as overwhelmed. One of my friends is a one-woman support system for both her and her hubby’s family: she supports her retiree parents, and singlehandedly runs her own household, which includes her husband and young son, mother- and brother-in-law, with all its relationship minefields, in addition to studying for her teaching certificate.

So for her, and all the women out there who feel that their life is spiralling out of control, read our story on p88, about coping strategies for when you feel overwhelmed. Our experts suggest doing feel-good things throughout the day to boost levels of oxytocin, a hormone that keeps a woman’s mood up.

The good thing is, you can count on Simply Her to give you plenty of options for that – from our review of the 10 best glossy lipsticks (p29), to how five women turned their passions into a job (p80), to the best body-scrub treatments (p110). Have a balanced, panic-free month ahead!

PS, thanks for all your lovely letters. E-mail us at magsimplyher@sph.com.sg or write to us at 82 Genting Lane, Media Centre, Level 7, S(394567) and keep sending in your wonderful ideas.

PHOTOGRAPHY FRENCHESCAR LIM ART DIRECTION MICHELLE KUEK HAIR & MAKEUP MAY PAN (9791-8879) STYLING MARIE NG (9101-9907) DRESS DOROTHY PERKINS ACCESSORIES AGNES B. SHOES ALDO