Positive ways to manage stress

There have been times when life gets out of control and the stress becomes overwhelming. These are my stress busting tips that have helped me get through the tough times. There is no specific order here and the photos are a mish mash.

1- Listen to feel good music.

2- Pet your furry friend. Especially after a hard day, those little guys know how to melt stress away.

3- Volunteer. Nothing increases the feel goods like when you've given back to your neighbor, community, or church.

4- Look at your to do list and complete something. Bask in the satisfaction of a job done (or well done but at least done!)

5- Work out the stress in a run or at the gym. A solid sweat session can help get rid of those negative vibes.

6- Hang out with a friend. I used to go to Starbucks and drink an iced tea. We would chat for a few hours and I would feel loads better.

7- Look at green. It's a positive reinforcing color. And if you have to, buy fresh cut flowers. Everyone needs a little TLC during stressful times.

8- Laugh! Laughter is one of the best medicines for difficult times. YouTube has some hilarious videos or watch your favorite funny movie. Laugh as much as you can.

Those are my tips and I would like to remind you that stressful situations can't always be controlled. These tips will help you manage your stress levels but never forget to seek positive reinforcements.

Make A Difference Monday

Laughter is good medicine and hopefully this little story will get you to smile and chuckle.

We finished our dinner of hot wings and put the plates on the floor in front of the couch. Kirby was chasing Chomps and clumsily rolled through the plate with hotter wing sauce. After getting up he quickly realized that he was covered in a sticky substance. The first lick was a shock to his system. He tried to shake his head to cool it down. That's how each lick went: lick and head shake, until he was done. We laughed at him heartily and sure he did not enjoy the hot sauce. He did develop a taste for hot Cheetos sometime after. It is pretty funny to watch Kirby hold the cheeto down with one paw and lick all the dust off it.

I hope this story gave you a smile. Please stay tuned for Travel Tuesday: Egyptian Adventure.

Linking up with Julie from This Gal Cooks.

Make A Difference Monday

While I am currently pondering how I can make a difference in the future, here is two very good tips to help ease stress. Trust me, life is stressful and that never changes. Utilizing these two strategies can make your life less stressful and that feels marvelous!

1-Laugh
Nothing eases tension than a good laugh. Comics, ecards, YouTube videos, anything that gets a chuckle or a smile. Perhaps I'm completely normal but I get a good laugh out of mythbusters bloopers when Adam or Tory hurt themselves. At least a little smile can make your day better.

2-Pet love
Do you have a cat or dog? Give them a lovefest and pet them. Run their belly and scratch their head. Obviously, they love the attention but maybe you don't know how easily the stress disappears. How can the day be bad when your kitty is purring and giving you a loving look? Trust me, a bad day can end on a good note from simply loving your pet.

I hope these simple tips will give you good days. Please stay tuned to travel Tuesdays. I'm recapping our Egyptian adventure.

Thankful Thursday

Welcome to Thankful Thursday. I have found that being thankful helps put stresses at ease. Truly, life is stressful but there's no need to focus energy on things that can't be changed.  There's many things to be thankful for and I usually choose something obvious like pets, family, and friends. I am thankful for all of these precious moments of life.  Today, I am thankful for a good laugh. Observe the photo below with the bag of ice. That was how The COPA Reefers cooled the equipment at our first pool party. The equipment died multiple times from heat exhaustion and at the time I was frustrated. Another priceless moment to chuckle at. Fortunately, we have better equipment to play gigs and if you need a band in Oklahoma City, that plays Jimmy Buffet, Eagles, and original tunes let me know! :) If you have a good story, please share it with me and stay tuned for Friday Chaos! Linking up with Julie at This Gal Cooks for the Grow Your Blog hop.

Ticket encounters

We have had a huge duffel from The Northface for years, maybe more than 10. We dropped the bag off with the ticket agent and he said we needed to get rid of the bag soon. I looked at how beat up it was but wasn't entirely sure what Jay meant. He said the bag was too big and would normally cost $200 to fly. Flabbergasted, hubby started arguing with Jay, "when did this start?" "Since day one," replied Jay. Thats when things got heated. Being the reasonable person I am, looking to avoid $200, I said, "aren't you going to waive it this time?" "Gee, I don't know. Your husband is not happy." "But I thought you said you'd waive it." "Alright, I'll waive it this time, but don't expect that to happen again" Interesting. Very often there is one person who sours a part of our trip and when it's at the beginning, we joke about it the whole trip. Thanks Jay for being so ridiculous. We won't be laughing if the bag doesn't make it but we are laughing at your hard nosed attitude.

Silly Saturday

Cats pick the strangest positions to sit in. He might have been preening when Ryan snapped this photo. Chomps is a funny kitty and he's always telling us good stories. He has hundreds of different meows and sometimes I feel like we are having a conversation. Whenever I need a good laugh, I'll get out some catnip. He goes bonkers over the herb.

Thankful Thursday & Instagrid Party

Welcome friends to thankful Thursday and the instagrid party! Today, I'm thankful for funny stories. A good laugh is excellent medicine. The photo was Grandma-in-law's birthday and father-in-law put a candle for every year of her life. Honestly, I can't remember how many candles but it is more than 50. The smoke alarm went off and Don's eyebrows were slightly burnt. We were busting up laughing and the picture tells the story. That was a moment I'd like to relive. Maybe Ryan could do that to my cake but not any time soon. :)I'm repeating some photos for the instagrid party because the photos are so fun! Thanks to Anne at And Everything Nice blog for hosting the instagrid party. I hope your button gets fixed soon.END

Tips to manage stress at work

Please check out this blog post by Dr. Walt West because it has some really great tips for reducing stress at work. One of my favorite on his list is get a laugh. I'm always looking for things that I find funny because laughing releases pent up energy. It feels so good and its fun too! Even a little chuckle helps me feel a bit less stressed. I also find that when I'm really feeling stressed out, its partly because my blood sugar is low. After eating, I feel so much better and not stressed. There have been times when I was in a panic over something at work but it melted away once I got some food. He also mentions getting a favorite beverage and I completely agree. Drinking a favorite beverage helps me feel good. His list tip was to get comfortable. I'm a big believer in reducing stress by petting a furry friend. I have two cats at home and when I come home from a stressful day, the pent up energy melts away while I'm petting one of them. Pets know how to take care of us, so its important that we take good care of them. Please read the blog post because there are other useful tips that I didn't mention.

True story

While reading in the living room, I heard a plethora of scratching on the refrigerator followed by a loud thud. I looked over to the kitchen and noticed a very embarrassed Chomps coming out. Its true, cat's can look embarrassed.

I imagine Chomps was fast asleep on top of the fridge when he rolled just off of it. He immediately started scratching to regain his top position but gravity took hold too quickly. I don't know if he landed on his feet but he was fine afterwards albeit his ego was bruised.

I still laugh about this story because another's misery can be quite funny to us.

Top 3 funny phrases

1: "There's a gecko on my peanut butter." I used to live in Hawaii and I went to the cupboard to make a PB & J. I quickly changed my mind when I found the gecko. When I told my hubby, we both got a good laugh.

2: "There's a long line of cars, and it's all because of me." I enjoy this song from Cake because it makes me laugh. I'm pretty sure there's just one vehicle that causes 79% of all traffic jams.

3: "I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise." I swear that's what Jimmy Buffet sings in the song. Every time I get a chance to go to Margaritaville, I always order the Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Top 10 for Wednesday

Here’s my top ten ideas for Wednesday.

10: Start the day with a special drink from your favorite place.

9: Take a minute to focus on breathing and relaxing.

8: Compliment someone on something. I always have nice hair on Wednesday.

7: Have a laugh with a friend.

6: Go for a walk outside and enjoy the fresh air and outside noise.

5: Make plans for the weekend.

4: Consider happy hour ideas.

3: Rejoice over any successes that come your way.

2: Celebrate when the work day is over.

1: Relax at night doing your favorite activity.

Inner piece

From time to time, Good Clean Funnies has given me a smile or a laugh. Today, it was a smile and it deserved to be shared. Please enjoy! Inner peace.

Winning

Today’s rating is Positive.

When there are events that can’t be controlled and it gets to be too much, follow my lead and go to Starbucks. There are plenty of things in life that we can’t control but when at Starbucks there is complete control over your beverage of choice. It gives me a sense of power over the chaos I call my life. In fact, I have full intentions of enjoying the free treat being offered at Starbucks starting tomorrow.

I got a great laugh at Charlie Sheen’s shenanigans and that helped soothe my soul from the last two days of misery. I thought it was more than two days. Apparently, time stands still when pain is pressing in.

Blogging for me

Today’s rating is Positive.

I am blogging to keep myself honest about how I feel. When I look back at 2010, there were not enough positive times in my life. I couldn’t laugh, I was stressed, I had headaches, and I hated just about everything in my life.

I am learning about myself. After reading some books, I can see where I run into problems. I’m a first-born and I’m constantly looking for perfection. I’m hypersensitive to most everything that goes wrong. Add in some loneliness and there’s the recipe for 2010’s misery. Now I can see where I’ve gone wrong. The true test is if I have learned how to get past these innate personality quirks. The test isn’t over yet but so far I am doing good. THANK YOU GOD!