The Dog Who Wouldn’t Go
Sometimes a good routine is all you need
I’m standing in the grass strip between my parking space and the road in front of my home threatening a six pound-nothing dog that she will regret it if she doesn’t “hurry up now!” My voice goes up a notch as I remind my oblivious, cheerful Maltese that “I need to go to work. You are making me late!!!” “Please, please go potty!!!” Now of course, my fluffy little dog is not the reason I’m running late. She didn’t make me stay up past my bedtime and she didn’t keep me under the warm covers after the alarm went off. That was me. All me.
Routine is essential if you want to reduce stress, and I certainly want that, as do most people. Yet whenever I talk to someone about how stressful life is inevitably we start to discuss how much less stressed we would be if we could quit our job, have less bills, perhaps return a child or spouse… (if only there was a 90 day return policy!) The point is, none of the things we discuss are possible or even desirable. Most of us can’t quit our jobs and though our hubby and kids may be irritating on occasion, we would fight the world rather than give them up. So what then is the solution? Simple daily routines. Three routines are particularly stress reducing:
1. Dates with your bed
It’s rude to be late to a date, right? Well you have a regular date with your bed and you need to stop being late! Working late into the night steals the energy and serenity from the next day, leaving you tired and stressed. Set a strict bedtime and make it an unbreakable appointment. If you have work that cannot be postponed then go to bed and get up an hour earlier the next day. You will have more energy than if you stay up late… just try it and see.
2. Take time to exercise
Stress builds up in our muscles, tensing and twisting them, and in turn they pull us into stiff painful misery from one day to the next. The antidote to this tension is aerobic activity. My favorite exercise is running because my muscles loosen and stretch as I move. My stress seems to melt away as I tune into the rhythm of my breath moving in and out and the beat of my feet hitting the ground. You don’t have to run… that’s just me. Pick your favorite (or least hated) form of hard breathing, heart-racing activity and do it at least three times a week. Take it easy as you make exercise a habit. Don’t try to do it every day, remember, you are trying to reduce stress, not add to it!
3. Eat mindfully
Eating like a rabbit is the first step taken whenever I start a new diet. The first day or two are great, even if I do feel like I’m starving to death. The problem is that starving is unsustainable and we give up quickly. The next step of the diet is to eat everything we can fit in our stomach and talk about how diets don’t work. We’ve all been there, right? Both extremes cause stress. The best way to stay out of the dieting loop is to think about our food and eat mindfully. It is easy to plan meals that are healthy and low enough in calories that you can eat a satisfying amount without feeling guilty. I am not talking about full on meal planning. I’ll be honest, that is one chore that causes me weekly stress. Don’t worry about planning a whole week, start with a day or two at a time… or maybe just one meal at a time. Whatever works. The main thing is to eat mindfully and with balance. One resource I enjoy browsing for fun, low calorie ideas is the Hungry Girl website. The link is at the end of this post.
These three routines are not magic stress killers, but if you make them part of your life they will bring balance and renewed vitality to your busy life. I know they do to mine, and maybe, just maybe you can avoid standing by the road fuming about a dog who won’t go…
The Hungry Girl website features diet friendly recipes that will jump start guilt free eating.