The A to Z of De-stressing
Forbes.com’s Feb. 24th issue has a good article on the “A To Z Of De-stressing” that includes a slide show, where A is for Acupuncture, B is for Booze, C is for Chamomile Tea, and so on.
If I were to rework it for me, it would be something like:
A is for Acting silly, B is for Breathing slowly and deeply, C is for Cats,
D is for Deep conversations, E is for Exercise, F is for Fussing with my hair, makeup, or wardrobe,
G is for Giggling, H is for Humor, I is for Internet, J is for Joking around,
K is for Karsten, L is for Listening to music, M is for Movies,
N is for Noodling on the guitar, O is for Ocean breezes, P is for Pilates,
Q is for Quicken (seriously: feeling in-control of my finances relaxes me), R is for Running, S is for Sex,
T is for Thrift shopping (one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon),
U is for Urban hiking (another one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon), V is for Vacation,
W is for Writing songs, X is for eXploring a new place (thanks for the “eX” idea, Forbes!),
Y is for Yoga, Z is for Zoo (another one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon).
What are your tried and true methods for de-stressing, abecedarian or otherwise?
19 Responses to “The A to Z of De-stressing”
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 7:01 am
listening to trance/dance music. talking to family and friends. gardening. photography. pretending i’m not president.
Going to a Marty meeting at 8:30am. Just kidding on that one. This day is choc-o-bloc of nonstop ridiculousness.
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 9:37 am
Going for a fast hilly walk around town, checking out houses and gardens and sky and people who pass. Ideally, I should be doing this every day for about four miles–more if circumstances call for it.
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 11:30 am
What is this “de-stressing” of which you speak?
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 11:37 am
A is for avoidance (sad but true), B is for bed, C is for cooking, D for daydreaming, E for eating, F for friends, G for games, H for hacking, I for internet, J for jokes, K for killing someone (marvellous stress reliever, that), L for laughter, M for music, N for nesting, O for other (not my fault it’s in the middle!), P for praying, Q for quiet, R for reading, S for significant others, T for treating myself, U for uptoolating, V for vacation, W for writing, X for the Ximenean, Y for yesterday (all my troubles seemed so far away!), Z for zoning out
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 11:38 am
(that was wonderfully fun - thanks :))
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 11:55 am
(K)ool-aid
(A)frican drums
(T)equila
(E)mpanadas
(S)ex
(M)usic
(E)llipsis…
(L)ollipops
(L)entils
(S)sex again
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 12:13 pm
Hey, man, I smell goooood today. Like tangerines.
(And sex deserves at least three mentions, but I didn’t want to seem like a pervert.)
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 12:16 pm
I propose that your “V” stand for “Visiting Kate in Nashville.”
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
So, I take it R is not for ridiculousness?
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 12:21 pm
Yeah, that sounds nice. You live in a good area for that. I’d have to drive somewhere first and then go for a walk, which is kind of less fun, which is why I don’t get much walking in. I do work right across from the big city park, and I sometimes go for a mid-day stroll out there around the lake. But I hope we end up buying a house in a neighborhood that lends itself to walking, like yours does.
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 12:22 pm
U for uptoolating
Beg pardon?
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 12:24 pm
staying up too late
(and it actually is a word i use on occasion; i didn’t just invent it in order to have a u)
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
You do smell good. I love this new scratch-n-sniff internet technology.
Posted: Feb 24th, 2005 at 12:56 pm
All day in bed
Bubble baths
Cocooning
Diary ranting
Exercise
Fancy hats
Googling something weird
Hot tea
Ice cream
Junk food
Krispy Kreme, and Kit Kats,
Lots of love
Mushy movies
Nice summer days
Options
Purple gel-pens
Quiet time
Rest
Spiderman movies
Taking someone out to dinner
Unschedule time
Vivaldi
Walkies
eXtra chocolate
eYe candy?
Zelda video games.
Posted: Feb 25th, 2005 at 5:10 am
“Options” is a good one. I like “Purple gel pens,” too.
And “Taking someone out to dinner.” And “eYe candy.” 
Posted: Feb 27th, 2005 at 7:46 am
hummm, have to do this - good idea for everyone to.
I like that some of yours (F) would be stressers for me
Posted: Mar 2nd, 2005 at 10:36 am
Did I just imagine it or did you have newer entries? Where have they all gone?
Posted: Mar 2nd, 2005 at 10:53 am
Are you possibly not signed in? Because everything newer than this is friends-only, which you should be able to see if you’re signed in, but not if you’re not.
Posted: Mar 2nd, 2005 at 11:00 am
I guess I wasn’t signed in
Had cookies disabled for testing stuff at work. My bad. 