If you don't know about MAD Magazine and it's "spokesperson", Alfred E. Newman, then his quote of "What Me Worry?" may be lost on you. Some of us quote that to give an impression of calm. It helps to think of light topics when in fact lots of things around us are going bad - or badly!
Hubby and I like to keep current. We like to know what is going on in the world and sometimes, we realize that perhaps today we receive too much information. Sometimes, we know we have to either turn the television off or turn to an old sitcom, like Seinfeld or Cosby, or a sporting event.
Today, it was so sad to learn that a racist entered the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and killed a guard. It is miraculous that there were not a lot of deaths considering there were 2,000 people in that building.
Much too often we hear of people being shot - often in schools or churches or workplaces. It is very scary!
The most obvious stress in the past decade was watching live on 9-11 as planes were used as weapons to kill over 3,000 people in United States.
Today, I listened on Blog Talk Radio to Dr. Carolyn Clansy Miller and her mother - both psychologists - discuss handling stress. We also are a family of psychologists with four of them so I'm used to this! (No, no, Hubby is an Engineer!)
Hubby and I talked about it later and discussed how, as the world becomes more crowded and as we currently are going through tough (economic) times, there must be more stress than there was for our parents and certainly our grandparents.
There is no escaping stress! Marriage, having children, job pressure, education, most special life events are stressful. But there is also plenty of stress in day to day living. Just getting places on time, achieving our "to do" lists and getting through each day with a bit of sanity left at the end can cause stress!
Dr. Clansy discussed planning tomorrow tonight and then in the morning, praying for God's help to accomplish our tasks and make it through the day.
I think there is more likelihood of more stress in the city and we sure notice the difference when we go into Houston, or up to Toronto, as we did last month. We live in a small city with a population just over 30,000 and I like that because I don't have to spend so much time commuting to the things I want to do.
You would think that being "retired", Hubby and I would not have much stress but there are still plenty of bills to pay, occasions to attend and commitments to be met. We still live in our own home, so we must maintain our house and grounds and of course there is a vehicle to service.
To live in today's world, we all must learn to cope with stress and to find ways to "turn off" stress. Praying, attending church, dining out, reading a book, listening to music, watching a movie, watching sports and humor, playing board games and cards are just a few ways to turn off the world for a little while. Of course for me, there is scrapbooking and you may have a special hobby that also has a calming effect.
I would be remiss if I did not suggest to you that having pets helps us handle stress. Certainly, Buddy, the Lhasa provides us with a lot of joy, laughter and sympathy every day. My Boxer, "Red" was also very helpful. My Shih Tzu all were in touch with how I felt. The dogs also help us with routine and having someone to care for who does not require a lot more than love and affection.
There is a link to Blog Talk Radio and Carolyn's interesting programs in the sidebar to the right of this blog. I think you will find today's show very interesting and helpful!
1 comment:
Thank you listening to the show! I love your idea of getting involved in a hobby. Hobbies are definitely a long lost past time that have been replaced by television, internet, and electronic games. They are definitely stress relievers. I use to love working on hook rugs!!! :)
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