I had big plans to participate in GTT last week. I even started the draft of a post about my weird quirks. But then I realized I'm not just idiosyncratic, I'm completely insane. The other participants might be writing about the odd foods they like whereas I would be discussing my complusive need to wash my hands after a meal because I feel like my hands must smell like food and then if I get in my car my steering wheel will smell like food and it won't bother me then, but it will bother me the next time I drive because what if it makes my hands smell THEN when I haven't eaten anything? Just, for instance.
So. Skipping onward to this week's topic: how do I unwind?
I have come to realize that I'm kind of an anxious person. "Kind of" being a generous understatement. I worry. I obsess. I worry obsessively. I obsess about worrying. I overthink. I overanylize. I overreact. Combine these natural tendencies with, oh I don't know, a stressful academic regimen, emotional trauma, or relationship woes and you've got a recipe for disaster!
Here are some things that help me be less anxious and a more enjoyable human being.
- Going out to a movie. Two hours where I can concentrate on some ficticious story with nobody talking while eating snacks? Yes, please.
- Running on the treadmill while watching horrible mindless reality TV such as the Real Housewives, MTV's True Life, or anything on TLC.
- Taking a benadryl and going to sleep. I have allergies, so it's allowed!
- A HOT bath. If I'm really feeling anxious it helps to have a trashy magazine or the TV on in the background.
- Cleaning my house while listening to Friends DVDs. This is because I'm a student. Housework = more fun that homework.
- Grocery shopping. I'm sure this won't always feel "fun" but at this time in my life, I enjoy wandering around a store thinking of things I might like to eat.
- Talking on the phone with a girlfriend.
- Having a beer or a mixed drink. More than one or two and I get all heart poundy and nervous and it is no longer unwinding but becomes winding UP.
- Driving while listening to music.
- Being in an environment with a lot of kids and/or other loud, interesting people. You know, where the food is good but the focus isn't on me.
- Taking a shower and crying.
- Getting... you know, intimate.
- Medicating.
