Stress is NOT a 4 letter word!

Stress is not a four letter word, but sometimes it sure feels like it. I'm here in Phoenix and over the last week or so, we finally got some nice, cool weather. It was beautiful sleeping at night. It was quite lovely. We got to break out our thin little sweaters and wear them and pretend, "Wow, it's really cold!"

Today we're back up to almost 90 degrees. Yeah. I'm a little stressed by that. My main main concern right now is I'm about to start a big project. I am going to declutter my house. Yes, this is a week and a half or so before Thanksgiving. And I feel like now is the time to do it. I want to get the house cleaned out for the new year.

Now I've done this decluttering once before I did it four years ago. And at that time, my house was filled to the brim with 'stuff'. With my stuff, with my mom's stuff, with my dad's stuff. Stuff!

Oh my gosh, every time I put something down, it would completely disappear. I couldn't find it again without some extensive archeologic digging. Once I got the house cleaned out. Oh my gosh, I felt so good. The house was light. There was clean light energy through the house. I could go anywhere. I could put something down and find it again. Mostly because I subscribed to the policy of everything has a place and everything goes in its place. Right?

The happiness and joy I felt with that decluttering has gone away. Now. I have stuff everywhere because I've done what a lot of us do. I bought more stuff and I'm realizing after I talked last time about the 'Soul of Money' - scarcity and sufficiency, and that I don't need all the stuff I have. What I need more of is room, is space and lighter energy in the house.

So last time it took me about a month and a half to do that. This time I've given myself a week and a half to do it. So, yeah, I'm a little stressed. And so my question to you is how do you deal with stress and how will you deal with stress as you go through this first Thanksgiving, then the Christmas and December holidays; now that we're in this unusual pandemic lockdown time.

I have a few suggestions for you and they can be tiny.

So let's start small. The first one is to Breathe! Of course, that one is probably the most powerful, but it's not the only thing. If you can just stop for a minute and just focus on your breath for about 10 breaths, you will come into the present moment and you'll be able to see... Huh? Yeah! Things aren't quite as bad as I thought they were. So that's one ... breathe!

The second one is Smile! Smile, not a grimace, but a smile!

Next, Move! Go out, walk around the neighborhood, be outside for a little bit. It can really make a difference for you

Laugh! Oh my goshI have found some great things on Netflix that I've just been laughing my butt off. And it really lightens me up.

Dance! Put on the music and boogie baby. And I'll tell you, as a boomer, I look really great dancing. And so then I can laugh at myself again.

Those kinds of things are easy. They're fun. They are ways to reduce your stress. And especially consider that if you're decluttering your house, you're going to have to do a lot of smiling and a lot of laughing!

Thanks so much for listening. If you want to know more about me and my work, you can go to my website. There's a link below.

Thanks so much. Take care.

Dr. Elaine

https://www.drelainestewart.com/

This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider for advice about a specific medical condition.