What do you do to feel less stressed?

[applestar]

This time of the year, I find that little things and big things combine to create overwhelming sense of stress.

I thought it might be interesting to see what everybody else does to help themselves from feeling stressed out when feeling overwhelmed or feel like they’ve “just HAD IT!” …?

… for myself, when I’m starting to feel overwhelming stress hanging over me, I try to manage the little things that bug me.

So I find myself hand-washing the kitchen knives and utensils — and favorite small pots and pans — as soon as they’re used so they will be clean/dry and ready to use when next time I want them … or restocking the soap dispensers and toilet papers, or picking up and organizing or scrubbing the sink, cleaning the mirrors, etc.

I also find myself …picking off all damaged/brown leaves from container plants, treating them for pesky sucking pests, fertilizing and/or watering them so they are not pathetically looking at me to be watered….

How about you?

[PaulF]

Not that I am really ever much stress any more but in the old days I would go out and run a few miles. The deeper my stress level the faster and farther I would go. Then age and excess weight began to catch up so I would do some heavy duty yard work; pruning trees, digging new flower beds raking leaves, shoveling snow or hoeing the garden (whether or not it needed it), whatever season it was, whatever was the most physical.

As that became detrimental to my health I would seclude myself to the garage, turn on the old vinyl record player to a high volume, play my old sixties music and start cleaning up the garage. That I still do but as the weather turns colder and the garage is unheated I have found an indoor outlet: As a wannabe short story writer, and science fiction is my favorite venue, I sit down at the old iMac and immerse myself in far off worlds and write.

If it is nighttime and I feel the need to destress there are over a hundred kindle books downloaded on the iPad and read myself to sleep. Actually I am getting waaay too old to even realize there is anything to stress about so all the above I do even when there is nothing but boredom to worry about.

[applestar]

I’m not good at disciplined exercises, so I get most of my “workout” from gardening and cleaning….

[PaulF]

Cleaning is the one chore that adds to my stress level...if it were not for a spouse who is a clean freak there would be cobwebs in every corner.

[Gary350]

Too many Doctor appointments are stressful to remember the dates and don't forget to go and be on time. Beardom is stressful trying to find something to do that is now work. The lawn mower needed to be fixed all winter but I did not what to do that. The 28" garden tiller self destructed I finally turned it into about 50 pieces, kept the good engine, took all the metal to the scrap yard and got $23 then wife and I went out for dinner. Several months of rain kept me in the house. I don't want to walk to the work shop in a cold rain to work on the lawn mower. A month ago I tried to repair lawn mower carburetor then I decided to check Ebay and found a NEW $12 carburetor from China it arrived in a few days now lawn mower runs good as brand new. I have stuff every where that needs to be gone so I advertised free stuff and people came and took it home. TV sucks, its all police shows and trash I don't want to see. I have been searching YouTube for good free movies and found an excellent Michael Caine move called, Medicine Man. Michael Caine has a lot of good movies. The History Channel is good. YouTube has a lot of good music the Pointer Sisters singing a Barbra Mandrel song that has a much better sound than Barbra Mandrel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipCBK4TTnO0

[digitS']

Altho being "a fan" is a little too strong of a word –– I have been a comic strip reader since I was a kid and no, I don't remember that we had a newspaper subscription but buying a paper now and then was a real treat. Of course, I later read Mad Magazine .

Now and then, since the internet, I picked up the habit again –– usually reading after going to bed. I learned that some news outlets have their comic pages available even to non-subscribers. I subscribe to one newspaper but read one or 2 favorite comics at 2 other websites. This has been going on for 8 or 9 months now and I really appreciate the folks out there doing the drawings and coming up with ways to make me smile (& think! ).

I was reading thoughts of some practitioners of Buddhism recently and the idea of "hopes" was equated with "fairytales." Optimism instead was suggested as the alternative. Work on that rather than be passive, in hopes of improvements in the future. It makes sense to me and I feel better and more comfortable.

Steve

[digitS']

[applestar]

Long time ago, I used to be a “perfectionist”.

More recently, my mantra is “…it (looks/works/sounds) better than before….” And remember to give myself a pat on the back for tackling the task.

But sometimes, it helps to let my inner “perfectionist” loose to accomplish tasks that are mind numbingly my boring — it’s a way of tricking myself into doing something I don’t really want to do.

See, you do get “wiser” as you get older.

[PaulF]

My wife actually gave me permission to destress. I have long been anal about how my yard and gardens look. Spending time in the garden de-stresses but the feeling that every square inch needs to look perfect actually adds to the stress. Likewise with the yard; neatly mowed and cleaned of excess debris is what it needed to be.

She told me a bit ago that an unmowed lawn and a weed or two in the garden is no big deal...nobody but us looks at it anyway. After fifty plus years of caring too much it is actually a good feeling to let go...a little bit. What chores that used to take a few hours to do now runs into a few days to complete. And I really don't worry about it.