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| @dallasclayton |
Here's a confession : 2016 - 2017 was not an easy year I must admit. It was a one hell of a rollercoaster ride, ugh even when I thought i was a relatively stress-free person, yep, no, it's still hard. So hard that it just drained me not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Let me tell you why, from mid 2016 til now (mid 2017) I've been leaving my hometown and constantly moving in 4 different cities - can't even remember how many times I force myself to pack and unpack stuffs. I was constantly having a different environments and living spaces, and also meet bunch of new people and have a different group of friends all year round. Don't get me wrong, it's fun and all that, but not having that stability and a true 'home' you can come home to at the end of the day... is just difficult. Not to mention not seeing my parents - which was CLEARLY the hardest part.When that burdens built up, i was stressing out. Okay, maybe not so much on the outside, but in my mind I knew that I was just such a mess. So to make things right, I'm starting to find a way to really de-stress myself, and to really just calm myself down when things get hard. Here's a few ways that I found :
1. Unplug Your Devices and Set Up Some ME time.
As an introvert, I know how important it is to have time to be alone and just recharge. Also, I personally think "Me Time" is just crucial to every human being. With all the things you should do, the responsibilities, the never ending interaction, the social noise and all that, let's just set time to reconnect with your inner self. To make it more powerful, I suggest to also disconnect to ANY devices that you have during that time. Then, you can do whatever it is to find way to reconnect with yourself, it can be a warm bath, meditate, reading or just writing things in your journal - the things you were grateful about toda - positive stuff!
2. Tidying Up Your Room
Okay.. I might sound so hypocritical right now. Because everyone who knows me know that I was FAR from an organize and tidy human being. In fact, I used to really hate cleaning and tidying up my stuffs. But now I realize that a clean and calm space can bring so much peacefulness to your mind. Having stuff just scatter all over the place will bring your mind into a more hectic state. Start small, like put things away to storage, change your bed sheets, clean your table, organize your wardrobe, and just making it as cozy as it can be. Besides, going home to a clean and tidy room was just the best thing ever, right?
3. Exercise (Your own way).
The more older I was the more I know myself better. And it lead me to realize that the reason I can't stick into any exercise plan is because it's not something that I truly like or enjoy. So pick only the things you truly like and don't push yourself to hard. When you do exercise that you truly enjoy, I guarantee it will be one of the best stress reliever. To back up my words, Science said that exercise and physical activity helps bump up the production of your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. So this will definitely be the key to NOT ONLY a healthy you but also a happy you. :)
4. Talk It Out
I'm the kinda person who don't like to talk about my problems to.. literally, everyone. I only kept it to myself, because I used to have this mentality that whenever I want to talk about my problem, my mind just went like "Well.. even if I tell you about my problem, will you even understand how I feel? Do you even have a solid solution? Why do you care anyway?" - something like that. I see it as a sign of weakness. But now I know that it was the opposite way. By talking it out, well.. they may still do not understand it and the situation may not have change, but you'll feel so much better because by talking it out you actually admitting the problem and knowing that you will always have people that will stand by you through all of this.
Yep, long talk I know, I know..
But, I hope you'll find this helpful in some ways :)
Sabrina Putri.
