Pressure cooker...

I was thinking the other day about being a little girl and helping my mom and grandma bottle green beans. I didn't mind picking the beans, or snapping them or putting them in the jars, but the pressure cooker scared me to death. Maybe it was the fear they put into me of messing with the little doo-hickey on top that lets the steam escape, maybe it was the constant reminders that I mustn't mess with the lid once it was screwed on and the importance of it being on just right. Either way, I remember giving a sigh of relief every time we managed to make it through a canning season without the pressure cooker exploding. (I don't know if pressure cookers really do explode, but that was my fear.)
Anyway, I've been a little like a pressure cooker lately. My lid has been screwed on tight and a little steam has been released at a pretty constant pace. There has been a lot of pressure building up over the past year or two and overall I've held myself together pretty well...until last week.
"Major meltdown" would be an understatement! It's been a lot of things: I've had much added responsibility added to my shoulders over the past few years and many, many big occasions. Weddings, a missionary, PTA, working, Woodbadge, Trek, Resource Room Missionary, mom responsibilities, worries for aging parents, support for a stressed husband, unemployment, callings, friends and relationships...lots of things. But as this pressure has been building, I've had this underlying fear that I'm going to explode at any minute; that every added thing in my life is like someone messing with the steam thingy and upsetting the delicate balance.
Most of these have either slowed down considerably or been eliminated from my life completely. Some of the others are here to stay, but I'm feeling a little more in control even though there's still much happening in my life and in my mind and heart.
However, I think it's finally time to breathe a little easier. I'm not going to explode and I think it may be safe to open the lid.