Monday morning rundown (10 coping strategies when there’s no ice cream in the house.) – originally published 3/15/21
1. Deep breathing. Lots of people recommend this and maybe it works for some folks, but for me? I’d say deep breathing has a 20% efficacy rating. 22% if it’s a sunny spring day.
2. Stretching. Give me a break. See #1. If that’s how I feel about breathing, what do you think the odds are that I’ve even tried stretching to relieve stress? Exactly.
3. Meditation. Okay, now we’re just being silly.
4. Taking a twenty minute walk. Highly effective when the weather cooperates, none of the animals are tearing up the house, and there aren’t any kids in crisis.
5. Honey BBQ potato chips. Because sometimes salty fits the bill.
6. Taking a long hot shower. Yes, even in the summer, because there’s just something about warm water on the back of my neck that makes things better.
7. Snuggling with a fur baby. 100% success rate with this one. 100%.
8. Enjoying a glass of wine on the back deck. Full disclosure: I don’t do this nearly enough but I’m certain it would be excellent stress relief.
9. Cheese fries with ranch dip. Because nothing says mmm, that’s perfect like cheese fries with ranch dip.
10. Writing. This might not work for everyone but it does the trick for me every time.
I think most of these could do the job. I wonder cheese fries with red wine might be the knock out punch.
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A lovely contribution. I’ve found that cheese fries combined with any other option often does the job.
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The one constant.
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Walking is something I keep telling myself I should be doing – but I have old parts that start getting grumpy when I walk, and I’m pretty sure that’s because I didn’t keep up the walking in my recent years. Comfort foods sometimes do it. Writing sometimes does it, except that helps when the stress is politically induced, and I’m pretty sure everything got really sick of me ranting back in those years – which, I fear, could end up being replayed in the near future.
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There’s nothing I hate more than people saying I should be exercising because if I’d kept exercising I wouldn’t ache like I sometimes do. Something about that just irks my soul. 😂
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Writing works for me too. And walking.
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I wish I could convince myself to walk! Everyone says it’s great for stress.
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Lol. You will do it when you are ready for it. 😁
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I’m all for the chips/cheese fries/writing approaches
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I *love* the comfort foods😂🤣
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