There are times, even when you know better, that it seems everyone is out to get you. These are rough patches, bad spells and all around tough times. You know the importance of taking time out to get a handle on your stress, but how can you possibly relax during tough times?
I’m currently going through a round of tough times. In about ten days, I received significant blows to my health, my home business and my finances. They hit one right after the other — BAM BAM BAM — like machine gun fire. But I know I’ll be worse off if I don’t try to relax during tough times like this. Here’s what I’ve been doing:
Put A Time Limit On The Pity Party
Dwelling incessantly on our problems is not good for our health or sanity, even though it feels like we are accomplishing something by worrying. On the other had, completely ignoring your problems is not realistic. So what I do is give myself a few hours to be absolutely miserable. Then, I try to get back to work.
Purge Your System Through Creativity
You know if you swallow any spoiled food you feel very sick until you get rid of it somehow. Purging your fear and anger by writing it down, banging on drums or wildly painting can help you facilitate this purge and help you relax during tough times. I throw myself into writing in order to get the bad stuff out of my system.
Clean Something
You don’t have to clean the whole house, just clean SOMETHING — anything. One spoon, half a table top, maybe even yourself. Taking a bath is a fantastic way to relax during tough times, even when you are determined to be miserable. Our bodies just seem to automatically give up tension to the water as soon as we submerge. With cleaning, you see immediate results, which can burst your self-esteem during rough patches.
Spend Time With My Pets
If you don’t have pets, maybe there is a person or tree or Deity or imaginary friend that you can spend some time with. My dog and I were homeless together, and she loved me then just as much as now. She is quite a tonic or pure sunshine during dark days.
It does get better, eventually. Hope this helps.
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3 Comments
Write a Comment»great post and very timely…i was without electricity all week due to an ice storm and was stranded at my parents’ house…talk about tough times!
thanks for sharing!
You’re most welcome…and congrats for getting through your tough time at your parents’ place
I go for a walk as often as I can. Nature is a great universal stress reliever, one that is close to everyone. Sometimes I watch nature relaxation videos at http://www.relaxwithnature.com