What a silly question, of course you do! Stress, by any definition, is something more than 70% of the country deals with on a daily basis. 70%!!!! That's pretty awful if you think about it.
77% of us regularly experience physical symptoms caused by stress. 73% of us regularly experience psychological symptoms caused by stress and a whopping 76% of us cite money and work as the leading causes of stress.
Sound familiar? Me, me, me!! Right here!!
I don't know about you but work is defiantly at the top of my list. I work so I can pay my bills which just keep going up, higher and higher, every single day. Which means I have to work more. I push myself harder, faster, longer and for what?
Honestly, I'm not sure. Yeah I make bare minimum to pay my bills but I'm killing myself doing it. Are you nodding furiously or worse, shaking an angry fist at corporate America? Yeap been there!
Well guess what? Society isn't going to change fast enough for our liking and I don't know about you but I can't quit my job right now (even though I dream about it every day).
So here are a few things I do to remove nasty stress from my life.
1. I LOVE LOVE LOVE (okay, I'll stop with three even though I can justify adding a billion LOVEs) color! It makes me SO HAPPY!!! I add it to everything: my clothes, shoelaces, dishes, home décor, journals, artwork, my walls and life in general. It's why I love the sunshine, hiking and photographing nature. Mother nature is overflowing with spectacular color and I can't soak it in fast enough.
It's a proven fact that colors impact mood and behavior. Color, which is a type of visible light, also contains electromagnetic energy and every single cell in our bodies need light energy to grow and survive.
You've heard me talk about color a million times before so get on it already! Buy yourself some beautiful fresh flowers, change up the color pallet in your favorite space, add some color to your wardrobe. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
2. I create EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! This is another one I just LOVE. Aside from just being awesome, creating/crafting has many proven benefits such as improving your motor skills, problem solving ability, creativity levels and mental performance, just to name a few.
Creating causes our bodies to release dopamine, an anti-depressant or "happiness" neurotransmitter that controls the brain's reward and pleasure centers. It's why we enjoy the things we love so much. Creating also gives us a sense of achievement and can have meditation-like benefits when we really get in our flows.
3. I spend time outside. A lot of this has to do with that whole sunshine and color addiction I have but also because I LOVE (there's that word again) being surrounded by nature.
Studies have shown that waking in nature lessens anxiety, stress and negative thoughts about ourselves. Being in nature has also been shown to leave us feeling restored, refreshed and happier.
4. I remind myself: I can't control everything, I don't need to kill myself for things to get done and some things just aren't important enough to waist my time worrying about.
Happiness isn't just going to come a knocking, go create your own. Life is about loving! It's about living! And most importantly it's about loving all that living your doing!!!
'Til next time,
Misty
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