Stress Relieving Ideas That Caused Me More Stress
Amusing Musings
By Margie Colllins August 2010
I had been feeling rather stressed out lately so my brother suggested I use some of those round stress balls that you squeeze and they supposedly help to relieve some stress.
I went to several stores and couldn’t find them. Perhaps there had been a run on them because of the Repression. (No, that was not a typo; it is my take on the Recession/Depression we are currently experiencing.) Not finding any stress balls made me quite agitated and of course more stressed out than ever.
So I got creative and thought I’d use some round dog toys I found at the pet store since they looked like I could squeeze them quite easily. However I was unaware that they were squeaky toys and the constant squeaking from me trying to squish the ball to relieve my stress gave me a headache. I gave them to my dogs.
My sister suggested some tai chi moves called warrior woman or something similar but it ended up looking more like the moves we did to disco music back in the ‘80’s. I am just not coordinated or patient enough to do those tai chi or yoga moves correctly.
My daughter suggested I journal my feelings. I tried but ended up making the grocery list on journal paper!
Another sister theorized that I just needed some exercise. I went to the local indoor track for a week. I got so hot and sweaty each time that I stopped for an ice cream every day after walking and ended up gaining five pounds. So you could say that exercising is unhealthy for me and added to my stress. Well, that is how I twisted it in my mind!
So let’s see, stress balls, out, tai chi and yoga, out, journaling, out, and exercising, out. I had one more sibling to ask and she told me she drinks chamomile tea which helps relax her.I bought some tea and drank it before bed looking forward to a good nights sleep as she had indicated would happen. Unfortunately, I must have a smaller bladder than she does because those two cups of tea went right through me and after getting up to visit the bathroom a dozen times, I ended up getting only a few hours of sleep.
In closing, trying so many unsuccessful attempts at relieving my stress only contributed to my stress levels. Not doing anything at all immediately helped lower my stress levels. It was interesting for me to talk to my family and get inside information on how they handle their stress, but none of that worked for me.
What works for me is something you don’t have to buy, nor eat or drink, non aerobic and quite cheap. It is laughter. I find humor wherever and whenever I can in any situation that I can. If I can’t find humor in my stress factors, I watch a funny show on television, watch a DVD or the go to the movies.
Laughter truly is the best medicine. It is organic, free and has no calories! It just feels good. I actually remember a time when I hadn’t laughed in so long that when I spontaneously laughed out loud at an old slapstick show on TV, it felt and sounded weird and alien to me and that is very sad. I did not recognize the sound of my own laughter.
Now it is easy for me to laugh and find humor in almost everything that affects my day in some way or another.
Go green. Share a laugh every day!
Did you ever stop to think about how your fears, worries and anxieties seem to follow the stresses of your life? It’s like our shadow that we may or may not notice on a sunny day. The “shadow side” of our emotions is something we can ignore, but only for a time.