TAKING TIME TO DE-STRESS

For those of you who had the day off yesterday, I hope you had enjoyed an extra-long, relaxing weekend!  My weekend was filled with travel, birthdays, laughter, tears, exhaustion, and rest.  It was a little bit of everything really!

Lately I’ve been dealing with some mild physical consequences of being stressed and I am so not digging it.  So this weekend I made time to rest and get organized.  Celebrating my nephew’s 1^st birthday was super fun and church on Sunday was wonderful.  Also, I’ve been forced into somewhat of an internet fast (as we deal with getting wi-fi set-up in our home) so I’m seeing that as God’s way of forcing me to disconnect a bit.

I’m limited to posting from my local Starbucks this morning, so I’m treating myself to a hot chocolate :) I’ve been filling out my Simplified Planner like crazy and compiling my millions of to-do lists into one master list.  Today my goal is to get things done while also making time for things that fire me up and bring me joy, so I can focus on those things rather than spend time stressing!

Here’s how I plan to work that into my schedule: This morning I started the morning off with time with God, reading the bible and praying.  Today, and hopefully everyday this week, I plan to workout.  I’ll get some photo editing done this afternoon after I go pick up groceries for the week. Later this week I’m going to stop by the mall to pick up some more candles from Bath and Body Works.  A lit candle with an amazing scent in a tidy home can be so soothing!  Thanks to Emeals I’ve got my meals planned for the week and will enjoy cooking a healthy dinner for my love tonight. Lots to do this week but lots to be grateful for too.

So, between time with God, exercise, eating right, being organized, getting work done and making time to relax, I hope to bring down my stress levels.

Here’s my question for you: What are healthy ways that you deal with stress?  How do you relax?