And start typing like I haven’t been incognito for a few weeks… might’ve been longer, actually. Yeah, I missed New Year’s, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. So, now that that’s out of the way – let me go ahead and wish you a happy new year, and welcome to 2020. I am NOT Barbara Walters, hehe.
It seems that every year around the holiday season, most of us get caught up with 15 hours of things to do in an 11-hour day; the rest of the time we just want to sleep. To say that our schedules become hectic is conservative at best. And since I’m the kind of guy who would rather stay at home and relax in my own way (I’d rather do some woodworking while enjoying a cigar) than go out and purposely join the masses of people and sales and rushing around, I find the holiday season particularly stressful. And so, I think I’ll talk a bit about how I like to de-stress, as even though I’m referring to myself personally, de-stressing is something that we ALL NEED TO DO! If you don’t regularly practice de-stressing, bad s%@! usually happens – to yourself and sometimes others.
I used to play video games, typical for a male born in the early ’80s. There was something soothing about escaping to a virtual world where you usually had superhuman powers and abilities and could stomp, incinerate, eat, or otherwise vanquish the bad guys. And honestly, that relaxing escape is still visited by me to this day, though the platforms and the relaxation factors have changed over the years. Now, I find myself playing one game or other on my phone merely to pass a relatively short amount of time which might otherwise leave me bored and twiddling my thumbs. Yes, I can get bored that quickly – even watching TV at home or typing up a blog post sees me on my phone as a multi-tasking distraction. I think actually sleeping might be the only thing that gets 100% of my attention, unless I’m having a bout of insomnia…
I used to hit the gym while I was going through a rough time in my life many years ago. When I really had trouble sleeping to the point where I was waking up every hour or so, I’d get up, get dressed, and head to the gym at 4 or 5 am and just let the frustration and anger fuel the workout. It definitely helped with the obvious physical health benefits, but it also exhausted my body and allowed my mind to focus on other things – like my terribly sore muscles!
I’ve also done some simple but useful tasks to de-stress. My family and friends enjoy spending evenings around our fire pit, but that wood doesn’t process itself. Similarly, I find breaking down pallets quite zen. I like thinking of uses for the slats, which range from scrap firewood for the garbage pieces to rustic slats that demand I scour Pinterest for worthy ideas of their use. And then while I’m in Pinterest I always end up looking at bags/backpacks, knives, and motorcycles. After 45 minutes or so that have mysteriously disappeared, I usually feel pretty good, haha!
These days, I try to make some quiet time for myself by enjoying a cigar. Since no one else likes the smell or smoke it’s just myself, usually some tunes, and possibly a beverage of some kind. When I’m able to, I can literally and figuratively have a cloud of isolation around my body, allowing me to focus onjust about anything. And being able to have that uninterrupted me time is quite a welcome relief from the humdrum of every day life.
One last method, and I’m sure you’re familiar with this, is venting to someone about what’s busting your balls. An open pair of ears does wonders for helping verbalize your stress, and if you’re lucky you’ll also get a sounding board to help you actually work through it with some outside help. Offer your buddy/gal pal a drink (and/or a cigar), pull up a seat around the lit fire pit, and converse. Even the antisocial dad needs the occasional social moments.
The Antisocial Dad 