How do you try eliminate stress from your life?

[Beekissed]

An interesting topic arose on BYC and I don't know if we had addressed it over here. I think this is one of the most important reasons I want to live more SS, really. Eliminating stress and stressors from my life was the motivating factor for me on my march to SS. I remembered how peaceful and low stress my earlier life off-grid was, and I longed to have that feeling again.

How do you folks consciously work toward a stress-free life? Or do you? Is trying to be more SS just making your life more stressed? Or not?

Do you find yourselves with too many irons in the fire and wondering how you got there? Juggling jobs, relationships, kids, animals, bills getting the best of you?

If they are, then maybe some folks on here can give you some good ideas on how they work to eliminate their stress. What works for them may help you too, who knows?

 

[keljonma]

Pray. The 'peace that passes understanding' gets me through the most stressful times. But I bet you already know that one, Bee!

Keep a Budget and stick to it.

Project Planning. Writing down thoughts and wild ideas for a project as they occur to me with a start date (like spring planting). No specific order while in the planning stage... just a 'list of ideas'. This would include any research needed. Then when getting closer to date, start pulling the ideas that seem to make the most sense, fit together, and fit the budget. Save the unused ideas for another day and/or another project. Implement the planned project.

Food Planning and Prep. -I keep the list for my area's local harvest. Always buy in season. -Purchase or grow extra food when in season for canning or other forms of preserving for future use. -Buy and store flour and grains in bulk.

There are other things we do... but these are the basic 4 for us.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Take it to God. I try to give it all over to Him so I won't feel stressed. Unfortunately, I'm only human, and there are some things that get me so worked up that I don't always remember to give it over. I'm a work in progress.

 

[Beekissed]

As are we all, Quail!

 

[patandchickens]

I stick with types of self-sufficiency that reduce, not add to, the stress in my life. So, like, 'trying to afford a total off-grid energy supply system' or 'trying to grow every last bit of my food' are not even on my menu (Of course the latter would be if that was the only way to *get* food, but that's different)

On the whole I think most of what I do is kind of stress-neutral, or decreases stress. Like, I've made some significant changes to the drainage on this part of the property over the 5-6 yrs we've been here (hand-dug ditches and swales), and it has really helped with flooding problems. To the point that, in combination with digging a second sump for the barn, figuring how to keep the barn sump pumps from getting iced-in during winter, and getting a battery backup for the basement sump, I don't WORRY worry about flooding anymore, really. It is an interesting game/challenge to minimize its effects, and I do need to watch where the hay is, but I don't seriously worry about losing all my hay or having the basement flood.

(I suppose saying that publicly is the great big 'kick me' sign for it to happen after all -- but if it does, at least I'll know I did my level best. And losing the hay or filling the basement would not be the end of the world.)

To me, I think there's sort of three kinds of stress in life: the kind that comes from controllable outside factors and can be reduced by sensible precautions, the kind that comes from outside factors beyond our control, like 'will a giant hurricane come thru and flatten my house' or 'will we lose our jobs and be unable to get other jobs for some long while', and the kind of stress that comes from the inside of our own heads (obsessively worrying about things, or hating things about life or the world that are beyond our control, or etc).

The procedures of self-sufficiency can mostly eliminate the first kind of stress; help considerably with the second; but the only thing gonna touch the third is acquiring the 'mental self-sufficiency' to see things in a different light and develop different thought habits.

Pat

 

[justusnak]

When I need to destress....I go for a walk in my woods. I try to REALLY look at everything around me. Tuen over old fallen trees...see what lives under there. ( just be carefull, you MIGHT not want to know) LOL Funny how an odd shaped tree...or limb....gets the mind wandering. " what made that grow like that"? Could I use it in my garden? crafts? Just really looking around...clears my mind. Sometimes I can walk for MILES! Depends on the stress level.

 

[freemotion]

All of the above, and....

I consciously talk myself into the idea that the ss tasks (I want to re-inforce these, especially) such as cooking from scratch, canning, gardening, etc, are fun and relaxing. We all know they can be, and we all know they can be stressful, too, when you need to get so much done and it is all coming at you at once. So I repeat to myself how valued the task is, how amazing I am to do it, and other such hooey

I take baths instead of showers whenever possible.

I do not watch stress-inducing tv or movies or read stressful novels. Our bodies don't know if we are under attack or if it is the entertainment we are participating in, our bodies just respond. (I do watch tv and movies and read, however. It can be relaxing if chosen for that. I also like to sew and cook with the tv on sometimes.)

I snuggle and smooch my critters many times a day!

I get and give massage therapy! Receiving deep tissue massage is not relaxing for that hour, but it leaves me deeply relaxed for many hours or days afterwards.

Getting outside daily is a must for me! Going now, as the sun is setting!

 

[SKR8PN]

The biggest stress relief I ever had was my divorce 15 years ago! LOL! The next was meeting and marrying my best friend in the whole world! After that I work out at least 3 days a week,and I am self employed so I can control the amount of stress I take on. The most relaxing things for me is working in my garden, or drinking a cold beer while watching a fire burn in my fire pit which just so happens to be beside my garden!

 

[Beekissed]

Someone on BYC asked how to deal with stress in our every day lives( she listed all the kid's activities, home business, etc. as stressors) and I posted the following:

I think a person has to really want to avoid stress badly enough to sit down and weed it out of their lives. I have co-workers who are stressed to the max every day juggling the job, kid's sports and activities, family problems, money problems...you name it, they've got it!

I don't.

The difference?

I choose to make stress relief a big priority in my life. Above all the other things going on in this world, being content and happy is my biggest goal right now. If outside stressors are threatening that zen place for me, I eliminate the stressor, if at all possible.

First, I developed my spiritual life and my relationship with God. Everything else falls into place after that! What you cannot handle on your own, refer to God and He will take care of it. Simple as that. Some things you can control, some things you can't....it helps tremendously to not dwell upon those that you cannot.

Money? I live frugally and don't buy things I have to make payments on. Get rid of unnecessary spending. Most of us cannot escape some type of money problems in one way or another, but we can work on the obvious drains on our income.

Kids? They are kids and they don't have to be toted around, titillated and entertained all the time by this activity or that one. I never had that growing up and I had time to develop my intellect and personality. Kids need to know that parents are people too...not their personal driver, event planner and coordinator, ATM, cook and housekeeper. Give kids chores, boundaries, limit their activities~why can't they just be kids? You know, play with their siblings, interact with their parents, imaginative play, or even~dare I say it~just read a book?

Job? I didn't stop looking until I found one that didn't stress the life out of me. AND I avoid those co-workers who bleed stress or cause it on a daily basis. If they can't be avoided, time to look for a new job, or just accept that some folks are nasty and let it roll off your back.

Home? You don't have to answer the phone each time it rings. Turn off the TV, computers, radios...whatever causes noise pollution...have standard quiet times. Promote fun and laughter at every chance...its like a shot of good health every time you laugh!

How do you get it? You fight for it! Its not just a want...its for your health! If you want to be around long enough to become a grandmother, remove the stress. Seek out ways to de-stress physically and mentally and keep them in your daily routines.

Pray each day that God's will be done, thank Him for what you have, spread the love..... and fight to keep your life simple. It works like a charm!

 

[Big Daddy]

Most of my stress is from money. The next stresser is when spring is coming. There is so much that needs to be done in a short period of time.

So I make lists. I make a list of expenses and break them down by payday so I know where the money is going and that there is enough of it. Then I make a lists of everything that has to be done outside. Right now I need to make some raised beds and till the garden, I also need to build some additional coops for chickens my wife is buying and I need to build a fence to keep the horses out of the pastures when the dry season comes and to keep them off the leech field. I really need about a 3 month vacation. Only way that will happen is a lay off though. Hopefully that's not in the cards.