Did you know that April is National Stress Awareness Month?  It’s good timing for me, because I’m going through a minor stress blip in my life.  So I’ve been thinking about ideas for ways to a) become more aware of the triggers that start stress building and b) take a step in whatever direction stress isn’t heading.

I started with a list of things that automatically, instantly lower my blood pressure (I probably mean this in an emotional sense–I’ve never measured it):

1. Being slobbered on by my puppy niece Jane.

2. Seeing my best friend’s phone number on the caller ID.

3. Peeking at my DVR and discovering lots of saved goodies.

4. Planting a seed in, or watering, my garden (as an aside, did you know that April is also National Gardening Month?!).

5. Baking, then smelling, then tasting what I’ve made.

6. Standing up from my desk and walking over to my office window to see what the tree outside is up to.

7. Doing 5 minutes of simple stretches.

8. Seeing fresh, clean sheets on my bed.

Here’s the thing–coming up with the list made me realize that sometimes (often?), a whole day will go by without my doing any one of those things.  And that is just not acceptable–in National Stress Month or any other. 

So my pledge is to take a moment every day to think of something–from the list above or not–that I know I can count on to leave me feeling safe, comfortable, in control (ha!), and re-energized.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s a sunny day and my garden could use a water.  But before I go….what’s on your “in case of stress, break glass” list?  Have you done anything from it today?

(image via: http://gita-blog.blogspot.com)

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