Therese,____I love todays Stress Busters you shared with us. I want to remind you to use them for yourself. After reading your recent posts regarding your run in with Face Book and the HOURS you spent there I had to shake my head. You KNOW better than that! To spend that much time on ANY website is a red flag. PLEASE exercise your own boundaries, devote the time you spent online to your husband and children, yourself. When I read that you had not been getting much sleep, only about 8 hrs in 2 nights I trembled. I know from my own experience that sleep deprivation alone can cause hallucinations and cause us to go NUTS! It looked like a sign of Mania to me, your getting so many friends and spending so much time on that site. I think of you every day and want you to know that you remain in my thoughts and prayers! I am going to light a NEW, white prayer candle on my altar here in my home today for healing with your name on it. I wish I could have sent you the gift I had for you. I want to share with you what it was. My Mother who is Catholic had a set of rosary beads which are made of Rosewood. They smell of Rose! I took the Rosary apart and used some of the prayer beads along with other gemstones and silver pieces to string a necklace that can be worn. Because they are ROSE to me it was like getting Rose’s or Rose petals. I let my son have some of the rosewood beads from the rosary to make himself a prayer bead bracelet that he carries and uses as he needs to. I have the remaining beads here in my spiritual area of my bedroom…….with your name on them. If there is ANY way I can get them to you PLEASE let me know. I so want you to have this love gift. ____I love you, appreciate you and look forward to hearing back from you. Email me privately when you have the time, it has been almost a mth since I got a email from you woman!____Love & light, Mary Anne

I appreciated the validity and truth of the Stress Busters. For me, I have to have reminders – visuals. So, I use Yellow Stickies and 3×5 cards to cue my behavior. Like it or not, I have to accept that I can’t incorporate all the good ideas, quotes or scriptures into my cranium. There’s way too much going on in there already – not that it’s overly crowded – but a lot of little cartoon bubbles bouncing around with ideas, anxieties, etc. So, I have a terrible habit of clutter – my stickies get to be a bit unstuck and I find them everywhere they’re not supposed to be. So, I’m considering investing in a little ‘brain book’ where I can keep my good stuff and have it handy for reference. My brother kept a little spiral notebook in his back pocket for years, to record production figures from the oilwells he was pumping. If he relied on memory, those figures never made it home to help him to do his paperwork. So, I’m trying to alleviate stress by not having to remember everything – and I think the ‘brain book’ will be my gray matter annex, and possibly an 11th idea!
Franco

where would life be without lists.i live by them everyday even at work and check off each thing i do.alot of your ideas are good as well.and therese dont forget to use some for yoursel hate to see you have a set back.

Thank you very much.

How simple it really is when your not so stressed out! Reading this article makes me realize that life does not have to be perfect and complete. We actually can stop and smell the roses along the way. We really can enjoy the little things in life without feeling guilty. Thank you for being there.

pointers are good its true not worth sressing over small stuff easier said than done.will try
thank you

I’ve recently found out that I must slow down or die. I’ve related this to my family and friends. They don’t get it. I have had to repeat myself many times to them. Such as my daughter reminding me 2 weeks prior to a lunch date at school with my 5 year old grandson. Had to tell her 3 times, it’s written on the calendar, remind me the night before. I don’t want to keep it in my head. There is too much being kept there as it is. All of my children have been put on notice, take care of your own business. Do not come to me with your problems right now, I have my own. Handle your own stuff I don’t want it in my head. Last night I when I got home from work, I made a cup of tea, shut off the telephone, read a little of a good book and didn’t answer the door. The night was for myself and it felt great. I don’t remember when I ever did that before. I do know one thing, I will be doing it a lot more often, for me.

I do these things but people seem to think I’m just disconnected or lazy.

this is a very good article as im so stressed and depressed when i opened my computer and reading this article enlightened me and i don’t want to die young nursing stress and depression. thank you very much.

I had a heart attack in July because of stress! My children are all grown and adults and still complain to me about each other. I am tired of answering the phone and hearing calls from telemarketing. I am on disability since the year 2000 when I hurt my spine and because I had the heart attack in July, I don’t need to hear any crap from anyone. My blood pressure goes up very quickly even though I take medicine for it.

For some reason, some people just feel more stress than others. I believe I am one of those people. This article really made me think though. I believe that I am going to try one of the comments, too. Shut off the phone, don’t answer the door and cut my To-Do list in half. That will make life a lot easier. Time to go “Smell the Roses!” Thank you!
I wish everyone would think about the abject poverty in Somalia or Cambodia. Maybe we would not worry so much about what the person at the work station next to you is doing.

My problem is that I’m very stressed – with a husband in a nursing home – depression – a part-time job which may disappear on me – pain from pressure on the sciatic nerve which nothing helps – AND I’M A SLOB!! All the people I know are “neat freaks”. I have clutter, dust, a cat and a dog, a son living at home at 24, and I can’t even keep the mail straight. I’m a MESS. I know “it’s not all about me” but the harassment I get about my horribly messy house just does me IN. I can’t get a handle on it and don’t know when I will. Everything seems to be going “down the tubes” here and I can’t clean the house. HELP!

Thanks for the tips.

Jenni- I hear you on the stress and the messy home. My children and I live with my mom, and between all of our stuff and her knick knacks and all of our clutter, the house is a mess and it is very overwhelming. I try to organize it, but it is just too overwhelming for me, and I give up. This all adds to the stress because it’s hard to find things and hard not to feel depressed. Good luck to you as we both work on finding a stress free environment.

Jenni & Tanya – you have lots of company in the “messy home” department. I’m also depressed /overwhelmed, & I live alone with a cat! And my house is totally out of control. Haven’t done dishes in over a year (have been using paper & plastic), can’t seem to file any papers, my furniture is in an uproar because a friend is taking forever (18 months) to finish installing a laminate floor. And I think my fur-baby has kidney failure. My doctor has found some meds that work (up to a point) for the depression & anxiety. I thank God for that! I’ll keep you both in my thoughts & prayers as we struggle together to find peace & clarity.

To my fellow “messy” sisters:
Look up Flylady on the Web and you will get tips for dealing with CHAOS, make small changes in your lives and start on the road to organization. Flylady is the next best thing to having someone come in and clean.
Now, what I need to do is get out off the computer and do 15 minute cleaning stings.

I’ve had luck with flylady too! She can come on a little strong, which can be overwhelming for us sensitive types, but there are some great concepts. It has helped me with that overwhelmed feeling.
@Therese: thanks so much for the encouraging posts. They help me so much.

I love #3, pencils YES!!! And post-its that you can THROW AWAY!

I love #6, Maybe the be of them all… but I could be partial to it because I draw cartoons. My goal has always been to use humor as a healthy coping mechanism for mental health issues. I try to draw them from my point of view, that is the point of view from someone living with them. I cannot tell you the joy it brings me to see someone laugh at one of my cartoons. This past weekend I got a first-hand opportunity to meet and greet many of my peers and share with them my cartoons. It has been one of the most joyful days I have had a long time.
6. Laugh.
Just as chronic and severe stress can damage organic systems in our body, humor can heal. When people laugh, the autonomic nervous system mellows out and the heart is allowed to relax. Laughter can also boost the immune system, as it has been found to increase a person’s ability to fight viruses and foreign cells, and reduce the levels of three stress hormones: cortisol, epinephrine, and dopac. Plus it’s just fun to laugh. And having fun is it’s own stress buster.
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2011/01/10-stress-busters.html#ixzz1AbXMWo3M

Stress can lead to physical health problems, like unhealthy weight loss, hair loss and the development of poor habits like smoking and drinking. By nipping your stress in the bud, you are actually keeping yourself healthy both inside and out.