Thread: Stress Management

I'm a pretty anxious, stressed-out person most of the time. For example, I moved into a new apartment, and already the washing machine isn't working, the light in my closet is out, a kitchen light just blew out, my shower pressure is totally screwy and when I turn the shower on, it makes a high pitched noise that's pretty startling. Maintenance has proven to be little help for over a week now. I'm also trying to set up wireless, which refuses to work with my macbook.

So I'm stressing. In general, the only thing that seems to help is yoga, which I haven't been doing too much of lately because of time constraints. My current tactic is to mentally tell myself not to stress. Really, all of the above are a bunch of little things that don't really matter too much, so I just keep reminding myself of that.

People talk about meditation, sleep patterns, etc. when it comes to managing stress, but I was just curious: what do you guys do to control your stress levels? I was going to post this in the Lounge, but then I realized this also doubles as a sort of this-is-how-my-week-has-been rant.

Generally, I try to run away from things with a good dose of procrastination. In the end, it often makes things worse, of course, but I am overwhelmed often enough that I try it first anyhow. I use books but lately, mostly the computer, which stinks if you can't get it to work. That sucks and I empathise.
Yoga sounds like a better solution.
The shower I think has air in it. We have that problem sometimes with the kids bathroom. Never got around to fixing it, but if it's your only shower, I would try. We all just use a different bathroom to shower in.
However, when you fix these things, there will be others, always always others. T'is the joy of being alive. Smile.

Yoga definitely, followed by running if you can. All while listening to some good music, this really does wonders for me. But I know what you mean about time constraints.

play computer games. sleep.

Sitting down with a book and turning on some zen music is a trick I like. Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror, by Brian Eno and Harold Budd, is a great relax, anti-anxiety album. Self-soothing activities are fine so long as they aren't addictive and detrimental, like booze. Addicting yourself to the healthy, productive activities, like running or working. . . now there's the secret. Not everyone likes their job, though. And for that matter, running can be hell if you're out of shape. But. . . yeah. Kind of defeating my point here.

Originally Posted by Eluixa

However, when you fix these things, there will be others, always always others. T'is the joy of being alive. Smile.

Good point. It's this sort of thing I need to tell myself. I just get sucked into worrying about the little things instead of zooming out and realizing the general picture is pretty awesome. Easier said than done, though, I guess.

Caelum, I'm going to check that music out, thanks. And I think I'm going to have to drag my yoga mat out of the closet and start that up again. Or I'll just take naps. Depends on how lazy I feel.

Hey, Mandax. Don't learn to deal with the stress the hard way, like I did. It really had to hit the fan for me in a big way to learn not to sweat the small stuff.

If you can change or improve something, do it. If you can't -- don't stress over it. Try and focus on the good stuff.

Easier said than done -- I know. Heh.

Hey Joseph, I'm going to try to do just that -- only worry about what I can control. I just have to learn to shrug off the other stuff. My last resort is to watch this video on repeat.

Haha! I cannot even tell you how many times I've seen Oliver and Company! My kids loved it! OK, I liked it too. We don't see it anymore because it's a vhs instead of dvd. Sometimes upgrading blows when you have to buy all new videos.

I haven't seen the movie in years, but I like it, too. And I know what you mean about upgrading ... I have so many movies on VHS that I'm not even sure they make for DVD. I had a huge set of Disney movies on VHS, and now I only have a few on DVD because of Disney's stupid vault business. But I have The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast, so it's all good. (I'm something of a Disney freak.)

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My grandfather taught me this. When you get stressed out -- he used some Gaelic term I've forgotten -- promise yourself that the first time there's a hard rain you'll go for a long walk and sort out all your problems in your mind and decide what needs to be done, and in the meantime just forget about them and go on. If it happens to be raining that day and you go for that long walk, after a couple of miles you'll be so wet and cold that all the little stuff that had you stressed out will seem unimportant and your only concern will be to get home, get dry, get warm, and get a sip of Bushmills.* If it happens not to be raining you'll have to put off worrying and by the time the rain comes you'll have forgotten what it was you were stressed out about.

*My grandfather said he'd share a drink with me when I turned 16, but by my 16th birthday he had been dead for over four years. With my father's permission I went to a liqour store and bought a quart of Busmills and took it to the cemetery. I had a couple of drinks and for about two hours told my grandfather all about my life since he'd died. I thought of pouring a symbolic shot of whiskey on the grave, then considered what my grandfather would have said about wasting good whiskey, and drank it myself, saluting my granfar's memory.

Wow, I really like that philosophy. Either alternative emphasizes the two beliefs I've been trying to hold on to, that every worry is really miniscule or eventually won't be a worry at all. Reading that actually made me feel better. Thank you for sharing it.

Glad you liked it. I've thought of writing a book about my family. I wold need to change the names, venues, and such to avoid spending my declining years fighting lawsuits, but it wouldn't be hard to use people like my Irish/Catholic/atheist grandfather on my mother's side and my Jewish/Baptist grandmother on my father's side as the basis for some interesting fiction characters. I could weave some of the little bits from memory in, like the one above, then look innocent when the lawyers show up.

If you ever write it, let me know. I'd love to read it.