Day 330:

After reviewing my blog entry for yesterday I realized I lumped anger and stress into the same paragraph. At least for me anger is a reaction to stress. Stress is kind of hard to define and you just sort of expect to hear people say they are "stressed out" I never seem to be out of stress. I always have too many things to do and not enough time to do them. Usually when I'm feeling "stressed" it really helps me to write everything I need to do down in the form of a "to do" list. Simply doing that helps me feel in control and when I feel in control I feel less stressed. That said, my stress is about really mundane things. I remind myself that my biggest problems are credit card bills and weight gain. I could be stressed because I have no job and nothing to eat. My stress is certainly nothing compared to the fear someone feels when facing a great danger like a bear or a tiger. I'd much rather have my problems then someone with a sick child and no healthcare. I've got it pretty good. Let that be the lesson for day 330: appreciate what you've got. A few years ago a friend of mine gave me a book called Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. The author suggests keeping a gratitutde journal, writing down all of the the things you are greatful for. You can go to the simple abundance website at http://www.simpleabundance.com/homepub.html There is a a section on how to create a gratitude journal. Honestly, I never finished the book. If I recall there were so many suggestions on getting in touch with your inner self and being happy that it just stressed me out. I do agree with the being grateful for what you've got though.