I'm sure you can tell by the facial hair on these three people that there aren't children in this picture. I hope you can see from the bubbles that Mel and Rich and I were having fun like children when Lissa took the shot. I'm here to remind you, once again, to take time to have fun and play no matter your age or circumstances. Laughter relieves stress. I particularly love laughing at myself, but today I'd love to laugh along with you.
Let me give you some examples:
When I was about three or four years old my cousins came to see me. Their mother was there, too, but I mostly played with my cousins. They were boys. I had a little fire engine with pedals. In an effort to impress my cousins, I jumped into my fire engine and pedaled hard down the sidewalk, mouth open wide as I screamed the siren song. Unfortunately, I choked on a fly.
When I was four we lived in a duplex on a busy street in Ventura, California. It was a long time ago, back when people didn't lock their doors as often as they do now. I overheard my parents talking about a poor little baby who lived next door. My imagination took over, even that long ago, and I decided that little baby needed to be rescued from his mean parents, and I was going to be the rescuer. So I waited outside on the front porch and peered through their screen door until I saw the baby crawling alone on the floor. I pulled open the screen door, raced into our neighbor's front room, grabbed the baby, turned back to run with the baby, and fell on him. He wasn't hurt, but can you imagine how my parents must have felt when I explained to the neighbors why I did what I did?
When I was in fourth grade I was still impulsive, and there were times when that impulsivity earned me public humiliation. I liked a guy in my class named Willy. I wasn't madly in love with him or anything, I just liked him. I was walking past his desk one day when, for no reason I could afterwards fathom, I leaned over, patted him on the cheek, asked how he was doing, and kissed him on the cheek. Willy turned red and ducked. The whole class, including the teacher, burst into laughter.
How about you? Have you ever done anything that your friends will never let you live down? Did you ever do anything so crazy and impulsive that you wonder if some UFO took over your mind for a few minutes one day? What's your most embarrassing moment? Think about your childhood today, and even if you don't come up with anything wildly memorable, I bet you'll have some fun reliving times from the past.
Labels: blowing bubbles, Childhood memories, girls having fun, Playing, relaxing
This cat really knows how to relax. All of our cats do, and why not? They get fed, they don't have to work for their food, all they have to do is show up for dinner. I sure wish I could relax like this.
Mel, on the other hand, has to work to keep these cats, and us, in food and a home and clothing. He had a rough day at work yesterday, and when he has a rough day, that means lives are at stake in the ER. So as he always does, he called me on his drive home from work last night and told me all about it on his hands-free cell. I listened and let him know I commiserated. By the time he arrived home thirty minutes later, I had something in mind to help him relax a little.
A few months ago, when I was stressed, I met a girlfriend halfway between my house and hers for a nice, long walk. She knew what I was going through, so on the way to meet me, she stopped and purchased a couple of bubble-blowing tubes. As we walked past fields and forests and trickling streams, we held the wands in the air and watched bubbles float up into the air on wind currents. Sometimes the wind was a little too hard and we couldn't get much bubble action, so we had to wait for just the right time. I'm sure passing motorists thought we were nuts, but we didn't know them and couldn't have cared less. Some smiled and watched the bubbles. Those were the people who knew how to have a good time.
Last night I took Mel outside to the backyard as soon as he got home, and opened the bubble tube--which I've used several times since that day with my friend--raised the wand into the air and slung my arm around to make the bubbles. Once I even turned around and around until I was so dizzy I almost fell. Mel got into the mood, as well, and laughed, and took the tube when I handed it to him. His goal was to see if he could make the biggest bubble that would float the farthest before bursting. My goal was to see Mel laugh. It worked. We both reached our goals and came back inside smiling.
We all have to work off the sometimes amazing stress in our lives. You know my favorite is hiking, but lately I haven't been hiking, I've been mowing two huge lawns with push mowers, a section every day so that the exercise is drawn out over the week and my shoulders get a good workout. That, too, helps me relax. So does reading a good book or watching an engrossing movie. For some reason, though I do love to watch LOST, I don't feel relaxed after watching an episode because I want a happy ending. For me, nothing satisfies like a happy ending. I hate being hung on a cliff.
So anyway, when you're stressed, what do you do? I've probably asked this before, but still, it does bear repeating. Sometimes we change tactics. What are your present de-stressing tactics?
Labels: fun, relaxing, Stress
I'm sure you can tell by the facial hair on these three people that there aren't children in this picture. I hope you can see from the bubbles that Mel and Rich and I were having fun like children when Lissa took the shot. I'm here to remind you, once again, to take time to have fun and play no matter your age or circumstances. Laughter relieves stress. I particularly love laughing at myself, but today I'd love to laugh along with you. 
Delicious
