Laughter is a great way to manage stress.
I remember learning in college that there are two kinds of distress. First is distress, the stress associated with negative life events such as a family member's death, divorce or losing a job. The other is eustress, the stress associated with positive life events - things such as achieving a goal, falling in love, getting married, and yes... the holidays. The interesting thing, I remember, is that the effects of stress on our body are the same, regardless of whether we are experiencing distress or eustress.
While the past couple weeks on highlowaha have been centered on creative gift giving ideas, this week and next, I'd like to focus on topics related, but on the periphery of the holidays. Monday ornaments, yesterday (thanks to HoliRay and Noel) wacky relatives who keep family gatherings interesting, and today... creative ways of managing holiday stress.
I know a little about stress - distress and eustress. As for distress... I have another unfortunate SAAB story. Like my last SAAB story (in June when CSPgrad was visiting), which cost upward of $3,000, this one will do about the same. Only difference? This SAAB story necessitates us buying a new car - not something that was anywhere on our horizon. Add to it friends and family who are losing jobs due to the economy, impending deadlines, and strained relationships, and I'd say I'm managing about the same amount of distress as all of you.
Eustress. I have that too. I have a few upcoming presentations/workshops I get to do and, of course, I want to make sure I am prepared and that I do a good job. I have fun, big plans for Highlowaha in the next couple of months, but making it all happen will require a lot of work and planning. I have an employment opportunity on the horizon, and while it seems an exciting position, accepting a job represents transition for the family. Finally, I love the holidays and I have high hopes for helping make them feel magical for the friends and family around me. That means making time to write notes, make small treats, wrap, mail packages, bake, decorate, and more.
That's the extent of what I know. Managing stress? On this I am no authority. I noodled around a little on the internet and found a few things I thought constituted creative attempts at managing stress. Check them out...
As I noted at the beginning of my blog. Laughter is good.
Here are a couple more sources of laughter...
Here are a couple more sources of laughter...http://humorscope.com/ for your daily funny horoscope. Or...
What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Snow flakes! Ha, ha, ha.
Take time to enjoy the scenery...
Take five and do a puzzle...
Or, pop bubble wrap - scientifically proven to reduce stress.
How about you? On a scale of 1-5, how much stress are you feeling and what creative ideas might you have for managing it? Do tell.
One more thing and then signing off until tomorrow...
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18 comments:
HI HLA!!!!!!!!!!!!
I haven't been an early AM poster, much less the first one, in quite some time!!
Ok, now that that's out of my system...
CKB, I'm so sorry to hear you're going to be needing to purchase a new car ... on the up side, perhaps many sales either are or will be going on with the end of the year and tax stuff. Also, it sounds like you've got some really exciting things coming up too - I know we'll all be waiting to hear how things pan out for you.
Scale of 1-5 for stress .... I'd have to mark as a 3 right now. For anyone following my own blog, you know that the last week or so has really tested me ... and its not ending. So, I think if it wasn't just over a week until Christmas, and/or I wasn't getting the chance to come home for the holidays, my stress level would be at a 5++!! However, keeping home in the front of my mind is keeping it at a 3.
Creative ways to deal with stress:
~I really like popping bubble wrap- be it on line or in real life.
~ Also, I really like making snowflakes:
http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/index.html
If you don't have it, you'll need flash 6, but it'll get it for you in about 2 seconds!
That's about all I have ... I'm off to get ready for work. I've got to get myself packed ... to move on Friday and then to fly home on Saturday.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
My stress is at about a 10 on a 1-5 scale.
I have eustress about going home for the holidays. It will be nice for our families to see Lily but I'm stressed about all the work it will take to make it happen.
I have distress about money and the fact that our house in KY is still sitting empty. We are just crossing our fingers that we manage to get a huge tax refund this year so we can pay off some debt and that hopefully someone buys our house.
Have a good day everyone I'm off to day #3 of all day training.
FIRST OFF: COKE REWARDS:
FRP06KVFHFMM
SECOND OFF: STRESS
As I sit here trying to put my stress level on a scale of 1-5 I can't help but think back to childhood when stress was the LAST word any of us would associate with this time of year. I remember one particular Christmas Eve when the music we had on played sleigh bells. I ran...literally ran and jumped into bed thinking Santa was on the roof, and I was sooooo mad because the rest of my family did not follow suit! It took dad replaying that part of the RECORD (yes, record) a few times to convice me that I had time to finish my snack before going to bed!!
I really think everyone has Christmas memories like that from childhood...when you get stressed, be it over getting all those cards out or whether you have enough money to make a "good" Christmas for your family (my two stressors), think back to those fun, memorable times.
I believe the "stressors" of the season are completely dependent on what YOU decide is stressful...for instance...I love baking, but to do all the Christmas baking by myself would, by definition, suck. Therefore, a good friend of mine is coming over tomorrow and we plan to put Betty Crocker to shame...we'll bake and we'll bake and we'll bake, bake bake...AND we're planning on having some fun while we're at it!!
Good morning again :)
~ Cassie P - where are you?? I suppose since the semester is over, there isn't as much of a reason to be on here early!
~ Kristen - thanks for baking! AND for your holiday reference to The Grinch (we'll bake and we'll bake and we'll bake, bake bake) ... Tell Nancy I said hello and remember to put some some Christmas songs!!
Okay, that image of Santa is going to be with me all day! Yikes! Someone sent me some other holiday pics of a group of buff young men's teeny buttock's, I'll try to get that image back in my brain to put a smile on my face for the rest of the day!!
My stress level changes from day to day, depending on what I get done.... right now, I'm probably at a 1 because I'm off to work, and there is nothing I can do about it until after work and it's time to run with the kids different places.
HAHA! Julie, I am here!!! And you are correct. Since classes are over, I do not have to get up quite as early. And for the next couple weeks, while in Cali, I will be posting much later in the day, if at all some days! :-(
My stress level is probably at a 2 now that finals are over! Would be a 1, but the past couple days I was so worried about trying to make it to Santa Claus IN that my stress level shot up a bit. LOL
Once I am back in school, it will be no lower than a 3, especially bc this will be my last semester...cant wait!
Stress.... My stress level right now is at 1. I am finished shopping, wrapping and decorating. Just waiting to cook and open gifts. On the other hand my eustress level is at 100. Krysten's Sweet 16 is just around the corner (Feb. 19th). I have to go taste cakes, get a formal outfit for me, try hairstyles, forward my lists to DJ, photographer and stationer. I still have to mail my Christmas cards this weekend. I guess I am blessed that I can give my daughter the party of a lifetime but I wonder if she really knows how much time, money and stress go into it each day. My daughter is such a great kid and she deserves this party more than anyone I know. Unfortunately, its the same amount of work as planning a wedding except that I have no honeymoon to look forward to:( I know that you are probably reading this and thinking "Maureen, you brought this on yourself", but in NY Sweet 16's are a big business. Believe it or not mine is gonna be on a lower level than most. Im not getting a helicopter for her grand entrance and there is no major recording artist going to show up. She also is not getting the car of her dreams. She will have to wait a year for a car and if I get her one it wont be the one of her dreams LOL!
I must admit I come from probably one of the funniest families. We do nothing but laugh. I guess that is what keeps me balanced. Claudia can attest for the fact that we are a wacky group of individuals. She still comes to visit us!!!
Not sure I understand the whole eustress thing but here goes anyway. My current stress level is a 1. I haven't shopped for anyone but I did mail my Christmas cards this morning. I don't have the stockings hung but I do have the tree up.
My boys and I are healthy. I'm able to make ends meet every month. I feel like my job is secure and I like the people I work with. And, all in all, I have great friends and family.
Now I am the opposite of Kristen because as a kid- Christmas time used to completely stress me out. The anticipation of it all was too much for me. I can remember one year in particular that I got everything on my list but I was under so much pressure to like my gifts that I just cried. There's a picture of me with swolen eyes playing with the toy of the year. As a pre-teen and teenager, I used to wear a pin that said, "Bah Humbug" and though I would enjoy it the best that I could, I tried to wave off the stress of the anticipation of it all. Is that eustress? The whole will I like my gifts and will they like the gift I gave.
So, today I sit at a 1. Next week could be completely different.
Claudia~ sorry to hear your Saab has died but on the bright side, it is a good time to buy a car if it must be done. What are you going to buy? You should get a yellow car (like Ray) and a car magnet like realtors have and advertise highlowaha. And, most importantly what are you going to name it?
Stressed? Me? On a scale of 1-5....let's see, I would be about a 10 right now. Not finished wrapping or baking or shipping. Short on time and money. Son is in finals week Hell with one of the worst teachers I have ever met.
That all said: Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts. Hmmm, that's works for me.
Claudia - Make sure to take Delilah with you car shopping. She will be working very closely with the new car.
Christmas Funny:
Why are Christmas trees like bad knitters ?
They both drop their needles !
Susan
My stress level these days is at about a 2. Mainly because I have done no Christmas shopping. I don't have a car home with me this break, and I'd much prefer to shop during the day when most people are at work. Guess I'm going to have to suck it up one of these nights and go out with the masses to get my shopping finished.
Claudia, sorry to hear about your car.
Cheryl: Anticipation just may have killed me as a kid if it hadn't a been for those afternoons after school where Julie and I would spend time "snooping" for our gifts. We knew Christmas morning exactly which clothes fit and what was going back. Occasionally we would rehide gifts...that drove mom and dad nuts!! One year they got smart and decided to wrap all the gifts early. With some patience and a knife, all gifts were opened, looked over, and retaped.
I hope my little girl never does that!
To this day I'm still not good with the whole "surprise" aspect of things!!
Kristen~ you and Julie are NAUGHTY!!! Good girls didn't do stuff like that! I can remember snoopying one time where I opened a gift and closed it back up. It was very unsatisfying and I never did it again.
Couldn't have been too naughty...we never got coal!
I remember one year when my parents left my younger brother and I alone at home for the afternoon, we decided to unwrap and then re-wrap all the gifts under the tree. When I say we, I should say that I convinced him to do it. #1, it was terrifying because we didn't know when our parents would be home and feared getting caught red handed. And #2, it was the worst Christmas ever. I'm not big on surprises either, but I'm also a horrible actress and having to act surprised on Christmas morning was NO FUN. Needless to say, we never did it again. And only two years ago did we tell my parents about it- they weren't pleased to say the least! Oh, what trouble I used to get us in!!! See, I wasn't always such a good kid!
Our day of stress has turned into a fun afternoon of people sharing stories about snooping around for holiday gifts. My mom wasn't a master hider of presents. They would be in all the obvious places... her closet, the closet down stairs, or her work space in the basement.
I would allow myself to generally peek inside her shopping bags, but never allowed myself to actually look inside the packages or bags. I love surprises way too much!
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole... don't like surprises thing. I LOVE surprises! What's not to like? The expectation that you'll like the gift?
As Matthew would say... "Variety is the spice of life." I love that our reactions to such a universal holiday can be so vastly different. Cheers!
Claudia I was thinking of how I de-stress. I know you know that I crochet. I just picked it up again. I hope that some time soon we can meet up and have our own little reunion and get away for a weekend with no husbands and children. I would love to teach you how to crochet. I know you are laughing right now but it isn't hard. Once you have the basic stitches I can talk you through the rest. It is so relaxing. Your only problem will be finding the time to do it.....
As for looking through my gifts as a child. I was good. I just took a peek but didnt see the whole thing. I have a great poker face but cant act surprised to save my life. My kids couldnt peek when they were little because I hid everything in the loft of the garage which is located directly outside of my kitchen (where I spend most of my time). I no longer have to do the "Santa" thing so now I wrap everything as I purchase it. It goes under the tree immediately and I wrap each kid in different paper and dont put tags on the gifts so they dont know what paper is theirs until Christmas morning. My kids cant lie to me. They try and I catch their sneaky little ***** all the time. I think they gave up.
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