Real World Wednesday

Is it really Wednesday already?

After the hectic and emotional past several days, I'm tempted to turn this week's edition into a diatribe on stress and stress relief. I'm tempted to tell you that I just ordered a bunch of Yoga DVDs from the library and that I'm looking for new ways to occupy my time so that I am not quite so interlaced with and dependent on WG for entertainment. I know I'm capable of it, but I seem to have let a few things fall by the wayside in the past several months.

Okay, I guess I did get that out of my system.

Now onto the real Real World Wednesday topic of choice.

Stress Management

I looked online. I talked to people. I tried to come up with a meaningful topic to discuss, but, quite frankly, I'm lost in my own world this week.

So, let's talk stress management.

First, a statement that should put things in perspective: My great-grandparents lived through wars, the depression, sons being drafted and sent to war. They had reasons to worry, and maybe they did, but the also lived, laughed and loved, and though they worried, they didn't stress in the same way I do, in the same way others in my generation do.

Stress, in its present form, is new to the world.

"The causes of stress can include any event or occurrence that a person considers a threat to his or her coping strategies or resources."

Okay, what are the recent stresses in my life and the lives of my friends? Feeling a bit freaked out at having to deal with sketchy homeless people and other varieties of disconcerting customers. Feeling overwhelmed at having a very long "to do" list at work. Confusion and concern over where my relationship is heading - now, in the near future and over the long term. Worry at my mother's health. Feeling financial unease after my rent went up. Yeah, that about sums it up. Of course, there are the other existential worries about purpose in life and such. But do any of these things threaten my coping strategies? Maybe it's just too many things at once.

"It is possible, however, for humans to learn new responses to stress and, thus, change their experiences of it."

Though I'm stuck in my personal bubble at the moment, I am aware of the fact that there are other people out there with stress (genuine, war-torn country forms of stress, and the more garden variety kind like I experience, though I doubt anyone facing the terrors of a war-torn country is turning to my blog for advice...I'm not that self-centered).

Stress relief techniques:
iVillage's Stress Relief Center

MSNBC's Stress Test

Holistic Stress Relief Techniques

Stress Relief Techniques I intend to try:
*Rotating yoga into my workout routine. I've been doing pilates off and on for a few years, but I think I'm ready to at least try a yoga DVD.
*Talking to friends and family, but not over-talking every last detail.
*Learning how to successfully spend time alone, without longing for company.
*Truly letting go of some worries, instead of focusing on the future of my relationship, I can let it work itself out, can let somethings happen without my direct intervention.
*Be grateful that I didn't just give birth to a 17 pound baby.