Stress - the Final Frontier

They say everything happens for a reason. I have to wonder what the reason for certain events could possibly be, as some "things" just seem to rear their ugly heads 1/ when you least expect it, 2/ when you didn't ask for it and 3/ when you seriously don't want it. Just when I think I have it all figured out, the wheels fall off of my apple cart. This creates - stress, a lot of it.

Not a big fan of stress - not that most people are but some do thrive on drama (I know a few of those types). I, on the other hand, don't handle it well and I try to avoid it at all costs. Some stress, I have now learned, cannot be avoided. So, how to combat it and try to be the windshield instead of the bug? 

I've tried most of these stress-relieving techniques in the past couple of days, to no avail. The stress is still there. In fact, I can hear him in the next room. No matter how much I ignore it - it won't go away. Meditation might work, but right now I only resemble Buddha - I can't quite sit still long enough and quiet my mind to meditate like a monk.

Since I haven't been running in over a week - due to stress and simply not feeling like it - I decided that today, no matter what, I would at least get a 5k under my belt and try to kick off some of those endorphins, also known as a runner's high. No excuses. There must be a way to get out of the funk other than mass quantities of wine, and hopefully this is my answer. Although never underestimate the healing properties of mass quantities of wine.

Off to the treadmill I went. Turning up the Podrunner podcast, I completely lost track of time - 3.5 miles under my belt (instead of 3.16 -- 5k) - yeah for me. Prognosis: Feeling much, much better.  I'm back at it tomorrow at lunch time. No matter what - and again, no excuses. Little endorphins are my friends.

And now I'm off to try stress relieving techniques 4 & 5 -- friends and laughing. Oh yep - and my own technique that Oprah somehow missed, wine. Not mass quantities, mind you. That would lead to a headache and headaches are stressful. I'm boycotting all things stressful from here on out or at least until tomorrow. From here on out, I plan on looking through my non-buggy windshield and moving forward in more ways than one. Onward and upward.