Stress Relief

When I was in high school, my main stress impulse was to watch TV.  I didn't have much TV when I was a kid, so for me it was a form of escapism.  I would use TV to procrastinate all of my work, but that only made me more stressed.

Stress eating has come and gone a few times in my life.  The first time was when Ex #3 decided to go to college (heinous, I know) and I ate a whole pint of B&J's by myself.  I remember my best friend taking it away from me before I could see how many calories I consumed.  Then in college, exercising became my way of stress relief.  It started off very healthy - after all, the gym was one of the few places I didn't have to talk to anybody (rare as a theatre major), but I wasn't eating enough to keep up with all the calories I was burning.  Then eating became a way of stress relief just because it made my body feel better.  I needed the calories badly.  Unfortunately, once my weight stabilized, eating remained a way of stress relief.  And then it magically morphed into a source of stress itself.  Now I've got my eating in check and exercise is my go-to method again.  Sometimes I'll do an entire workout before I answer a text, just to cool myself off.  Helps me feel in control again - I think because no matter what, if I just worked out, I still have my health.  A sound mind in a sound body.

Lately, now that my affinity for good food has grown, cooking can be very calming for me.  It's simple enough that I'm not using too much brain power, but complicated enough that it draws my focus away from the outside world.  Same thing with reading - it's a mostly passive activity, but engages my brain enough so that I stop worrying about my own issues.  Or sometimes I'll put on my big expensive headphones and listen to my favorite music.  Or sometimes I'll drive around with the windows down and my favorite music on in the car.

When I read through all of these things, the activities that make me feel calm, that's when I start to believe that I'm an introvert.  I refer to this handy chart on Thought Catalog which explains that introvert and shy are different (and also that extrovert and obnoxious are different).  I am by no means shy, but I do find social interaction extremely draining sometimes, so all of my stress relief activities are loner things.  That being said, I tend to open up very much to a small group of best friends, with whom I'll share lots of my life with.  I prefer it that way.  A shy person would feel left out from the big crowds, but I genuinely enjoy my me time.

I can't have we time without me time.