%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 Blog Challenge And Other Tidbits |
| An opinion or two...or three or four... |
PROMPT March 15th What are some ways you reduce stress and create happiness in your everyday life? "Just relax and breathe," my husband said to me as he heard me screaming over the phone at the incompetent, rude, unhelpful customer service rep. I just HATE calling customer service for ANYTHING. Oh my goodness just thinking of customer service causes me stress. I feel my heart race. My blood pressure goes up. My face turns red. Eventually fire shoots out of my ears. My hands clench into tight fists and I find myself snorting like a bull. Nope, I don't handle stress very well. Especially if it happens to be customer service. Now I try very hard not to let that happen. And if I'm honest with myself I can say that I try hard to remain calm, but I can also say that once I'm riled up there's no stopping me. Suggestions like, "just breathe," or "calm down", or "put the phone down and walk away" don't work for me. They're all good suggestions but for some reason the stubborn, bull-headed side of me always wants the last word (yep, I'm a true Gemini). Not my best trait, I know, but I have to own it because it's who I am. So when I need to breathe, or calm down, or walk away, I turn to my kitchen. I pull out some of my favorite recipes and dive in. Sometimes I'll even try a new recipe. Either way, cooking calms me. So does baking. I think it's because it forces me to focus and allows me to think. It forces me to follow a process and it forces me to pay attention to the details. It also reminds me that life is short and shouldn't be spent screaming and yelling about something that probably wasn't important in the first place. Cooking and baking allow me to be creative and I think that's the best part. I can get back to my roots. I can ground myself in who I really am. Very therapeutic and cathartic. So the best stress reliever for me is a cookbook and a wooden spoon. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
