Today is one of those days – everything I touch turns to crap! I woke up a year older, my treadmill decided to break, breakfast burned, the bank locked me out of my online banking and so it goes!
I have valiantly tried to take it all in stride. And failing that tried to remember and practice some stress management techniques:
- Staying solution oriented: telling myself that there are no problems only opportunities. . .
- Letting it go: this worked fine at first but as things started to accumulate I started to sink
- Exercise: See part about the treadmill
- Expecting good things to happen: evidently expectations aren’t always a good predictor of what is going to happen
- Breathing: took myself to my chair, closed my eyes and tried to breath (peace in and stress out). I am happy to report that this worked for the few minutes I sat in the chair. All of the sudden the fire alarm started beeping (needs a new battery)
- Stretching: Gave me some short term relief
- Music: relaxing music got on my nerves, but Eric Clapton playing the blues at very high volume got me moving (even dancing) and within minutes I was feeling better
The point of all this is about having a stress management toolbox and persistence. If the first few tools don’t work just keep trying something else.
If you are wondering about a toolbox, there is a great site that may help you out—The Center for Stress Management. I keep a link to the site on my computer and on my iPad. I have found over the years that when I start the spiral of stress I tend to forget everything I know. A quick look at this site reminds me that there are tools and what some of them are.
