Stress

[eredien]

So I used to deal with my stress through:

- Writing
- Working obsessively

I have decided that these are not useful or healthy coping mechanisms for working through stress, as they both lead me to set the stress and problems aside and use the stress-energy on something productive/creative instead of on working through the stress, so at the end of the writing I still have the stress as much as before and am also tired from the hard work, I just also have a poem or essay.

This explains why I haven't been writing much lately (hint: it's not because I'm not stressed).

What other more healthy coping mechanisims do people use or recommend?

I have thought already about exercise but I worry that it, too, will turn into a thing I use to put aside the stress, only to come back to it later.

Is there anything that helps you process the stress and work through it?

Comments

[thoughtsdriftby.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good mix and I would always encourage more gardening and cooking. :-)

Volunteering is a hard fit sometimes. The needs are well beyond any groups capabilities and many organizers will use guilt to take what they can. Churches, YWCA, youth groups, habitat, all have a variety of programs from serving food, working phones, political action... Since this is to be a learning process start there. Find out who they are and what they do. Check them out. On the political side, drop in on any open meetings or hearings in the area. City council, county council, school district, courts... Track down the various political dockets and see what is on their calendars. When these open for public comment more can sometimes be done with a well formed thought put to words. Oh, public officials... The city, county, and state have programs too. A few hours a week helping at a job center, public library... My sibling started out adding books in Spanish to a small library and taking on that portion of the children's summer reading program.

I just advise, keep it simple and for stable blocks of time. It's to pull the world up just a little bit and not by pulling you down. Can't save the world, but a bit less litter/pollution and a few more smiles/helping hands it is a better place.