Handling Stress

[runswithscissor]

Hey guys....stress is a HUGE part of everyone's life...I was just wondering how you guys handle your stress...and I'm talking about every type of stress...partner stress...job stress...life stress...just everything...thanks guys...

[Blue]

Depending on the level of the stress, and the cause I have different ways of handling it.

If it's a disagreement with someone, be that friend or partner, I allow us both time to cool off then, I come back to the problem and make it clear that we need to work it out calmly, as civilized adults. That might mean one or both of us needs to compromise and, it might mean we just need not to get into that topic again and each keep our opinions to ourselves.

For a break up or other things I know I really can't confront the person over, or hard issues I need to let go of personally, I write each thing I don't want on a clay pigeon (used in target shooting) or another target and use one of my guns (on my target range) to blast it into tiny bits.

For lesser stresses, just the day to day bills, flat tire, truck broke down, roof leaks, etc... my daily meditation is enough.

[pellaz]

try to limit activities, which if they go bad, could cause stress.

compare your self with the general population. it goes both ways:
why criticize others when its something you could be guilty for too
why criticize your self when you see others trying to avoid the same pit fall.

for me its part of why i like to be in a relationship:
your husband is your best friend in the world, established fact
its someone to talk to, just another opinion is sometimes golden
it limits your desire to take risks
a measure to judge your self against

out side of all this i like eating healthy and going to the gym
treat your self from time to time
dont always be the very best you can be, failure is good

respect others and their decisions as the final end.

[LateBloomer]

Exercise.

Lots of exercise. Helps you sleep.

Lay off other "stressors": drugs, alcohol, tobacco.

Eat regular healthy meals.

Pray/meditate.

Rely on friends.

Get a hobby.

Throw yourself into your job (caution: could cause more stress...)

Keep a journal; stay in touch with us.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Day to day stress I take to the pond in prayer.... LOL

I meditate, I spend time out in the 'green room' the outside patio area surrounded in green with our deepest koi pond. I sit there and focus on the life that is there, the fish, the frog, the dragon flies, the bees which are now streaming in to take water back to the hive, the humming birds and butterflies.

Other larger stressers I "work-out". The more stressed I am the larger or more work the projects are I take on. There have been years were teh bushes and shrubs have quaked as I approaches since I took the shears:

and did severe 'trimming'.

Hand tools - it allows me to really sweat out the nasties.

The real reason why we have three koi ponds... Not so much because I felt the fish needed more room, but because I needed something to take out my angst, frustration, and other 'negative' emotions on. It was either use a shovel to dig out a hole for water or turn to something like alcohol or drugs and dig my own grave.

I used to manage stress poorly, I took it to the Bottle or the Needle in Prayer - I drank oceans of alcohol, and leaned heavily on the needle (speed mostly, but other drugs as well) to 'cope' and 'survive'.

Now I have nifty tools such as the serenity prayer:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I still struggle with the wisdom part, I tend to not see clearly the things I can change and the things I cannot change... But its getting better.

I also remind myself that everything is bundled into tiny packets and I only have to deal with it for 24 hours. A man can endure a thing for a short period of time, its when he starts seeing that that thing will drag out for a long period of tie that he falters. So its all about 'just for today'.... Yes sometimes it is reduced for 'just for the next hour....'

Letting Go and Letting God... another interesting saying - a lot of the things people stress on they can't really fix and its just best to let it go and let the course of nature do its thing.

Time is a marvelous tool we can use. Just understand that 'Time wounds all heels' and 'Time heals all wounds.'

[dfiant]

I generally take stress in my stride and tend to see it as more of a challenge presenting itself rather than an inconvenience. Sometimes it gets the better of me and that's when I either go quiet or get a bit snippy, but that doesn't last too long, a good sleep normally helps.

[zeon]

Hello,
Stress is something which eventually finds a way out of your system however some people are able to cope with it without realeasing any signs ofr it... As for me i find when im stressed i start stuttering and going all opver the damn place... I know the way i cope with it is i often start humming sacred spirit tunes or alternatively listening to music and then when calm look at a logical side to life and see where i go frokm there x

[BobInTampa]

A few thoughts:
I own a condo (with my partner) now, so there's no yardwork anymore - and to be honest, yardwork caused me stress because not one weekend would go by where some part of my yard or house needed some attention....grrr..stress. My partner on the other hand MISSES his house and yard because he RELIEVED his stress by doing yardwork and chores. So now he's replaced yardwork with housework and that's his stress relief....and there's a bonus in it for me too...he usually does his cleaning in either just underwear or naked and for some strange reason, he likes to have porn playing in the background.....WIN-WIN-WIN - DE STRESS.

Masturbation and/or Sex: Since i was a young man, masturbation has always been a great way to release stress due to the endorphans that are released during sex. Oh, and yes, given the fact that my hubby likes to clean in the nude (or just underwear), it's very common for his "cleaning chores" to be either pre-empted by sex or post-cleaning sex (i can't interrupt him during cleaning..not even for sex ahahha).

Mindless cocktails with mindless friends: We all have a friend or two who's just high-on-life and seems to not have a care in the world. When i'm vexed, i'll often send one of those friends a text message to meet me at a local bar (gay or str8) for "Adult beverages." What's great about this form of stress relief for me is that i know my friend isn't going to press me for information about my stress. He'll say, "you look stressed." And i'll say, "yep, work sucks, wanna do a shot?" And he'll say, "Honey, i'm not here for a haircut." We'll then spend the next hour or so talking about mindless stuff and laughing alot - a great cure for stress!

Finally: TV or a Movie: Similar to the mindless friend solution, i'll find a TV show or movie that always cheers me up or interests me (i love Law and Order - all of them) and just fall into a video stupor.....really good option on a rainy day.

Well....those are my favs!

[Rawr]

No body mentioned music? I only skimmed the page, but surely music is a big factor in handling stress.

[Pix]

Hobbies that demand concentration (but the outcome is unimportant, like say archery). Anything that works off stress hormones (like aerobic exercise) and also like the hot as possible sauna/cold shower/sauna routine.

Trying to find the funny side (or failing that finding something else to laugh about).

Sharing with friends (I'm careful to share more joys than pain and I also return the favor listening to them), it helps me feel supported.

And an attitude of "this, too, shall pass."

No body mentioned music? I only skimmed the page, but surely music is a big factor in handling stress.

When I was younger, yes. But now (almost 30) I find that if I'm stressed I can't focus on the music so it doesn't help me with that anymore.