Thursday, March 24, 2005

Serenity Now!

Does anyone watch Seinfeld? I sure do. It's a whole cast of Jews and you have to love that. There was an episode where Frank (Jerry Stiller) was struggling with high blood pressure and every time it started to get high he would yell "Serenity Now." It was a funny episode and so I thought I would use that as my blog title today since I will be talking about Serenity.

Serenity is defined as "the absence of mental stress or anxiety." I have tried to learn to live in Serenity for the last year since someone told me I don't know how to truly relax. My life used to be full of anxiety and mental stress. It would come from numerous sources but only I could truly allow it to captivate me and take me prisoner. I would allow stress to take me from all angles whether it be financial, family, friends, school, relationships, etc... I would take any and all stress that others had to dish out and every situation had to offer. I somewhat basked in all of the stress I could consume and not kill myself. Now, I am happy to just let someone else worry about it because it isn't mine to stress over.

I have found some ways to find true serenity and I wanted to share those with you today if you are one of those people who bask in stress. I have 4 distinct things I have brought into my life to help me experience true serenity. It's not about the lack of stress so much as the presence of true serenity. Here are my ways of experiencing it and then I will tell you the benefits...

1. The first thing I did was find a getaway. Mine happens to be the beach since I live in So. California. I realize that some of you (HOOSIERS) do not have that option. Just find a place where you can go (alone) and bask there. You can do your thinking there and toss the worries to the wind. I usually go to the beach and set on a bench and people watch, take a leisurely walk in the sand, or take a run and create some endorphins. Either way I always enjoy my time there and it's sacred to me. Here is a great picture I took at the beach not too long ago so you can see my serene place.

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2. I surround myself with people who are low stress. It's not good to always be around people who bring stress. It is one thing to help people and one thing to carry their stress upon yourself. Find people who literally take the stress out of you. My two people are Britt and Joel. Britt is my little sister and best friend in the world. She is funny, relaxing, and sweet and makes my life easier. Joel is low stress and doesn't ever sweat things at all. He is also very comfortable letting me confide in him and not taking my stress upon himself. Therefore, I know I can rest there. Here are my two favorite de-stressing people...

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3. I took up two new hobbies and interests that really make me feel good about myself, challenge, but also make me lighten up and just relax. The two things I took up were piano and scrapbooking. I am in the beginning stages of learning the piano and am quite a ways into my first scrapbook and I am so excited about both. They make me feel relaxed and happy.

4. The last one is kind of obvious but LAUGH! I love to laugh and sometimes I have to do it because I need to. I will talk to someone funny, watch a light hearted movie or sitcom (like Seinfeld with the Jews) or watch comedy central (because I love it) I really love to laugh and it just naturally de-stresses and brings serenity to my life. Here is something that really makes me laugh ...

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Ok, now I want to tell you a few benefits of finding serenity...

1. No emotional eating
2. Healthier and you don't get sick as much
3. pleasant to be around
4. Don't take on problems that aren't yours
5. sleep better

and the list goes on...

Please take some time and find your serenity. Until then, here are my learning and thankfulness for yesterday. Have a great day.

Learning March 23, 2005:

1. Making bitter herbs for someone to be medicated with smells like weed.

2. I am getting really good at this piece on the piano that was once a challenge.

3. I really liked "Three weeks in Paris" and would like to read more things from this author.

4. I appreciate a McFlurry with M&M's

5. Atlas shrugged is getting so good! Almost done!

Thankfulness March 23, 2005:

I am thankful for a friend picking up the phone last night when I really needed someone to lean on and just cry to. I was feeling pretty ill (have an infection) and I just needed to cry and say how much I missed home. He was a great friend to me and I am thankful!

~Shalom~

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