Spoiler Alert: There are jokes at the end of this post. Caution: They may cause extreme laughter.
These are trying times. Our lives have been turned upside down by the pandemic. We’re also dealing with rising gas prices and inflation. Now the unsettling news of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. On top of that, we deal with everyday problems, some trivial and some major. Whatever it is, big or small, it causes stress. Recently, a health crisis (Meniere’s Disease) became my wakeup call for the stress I was putting myself through. What caused my anxiety? Computer issues, which I couldn’t resolve and couldn’t get help from tech support. I turned a molehill into a mountain by overthinking the problem. Eventually, it was handled by taking a few simple steps.
I like the advice given by author and speaker, Jay Shetty, in his book, How to Live Like a Monk. His advice about dealing with stress is to STOP, SPOT, and SWAP. First of all, STOP and recognize your stress, what you are putting yourself through. SPOT how you are currently dealing with it. Many of us deal with stress by eating, drinking, smoking, yelling. Now find some way to SWAP that behavior with something more purposeful such as yoga, meditation, prayer, exercise, going for a walk, finding something to laugh about.
A few stress-relieving WRITERS’ jokes:
A priest, a pastor, and a rabbit walk into a bar. The bartender says to the rabbit, “What are you doing in here?” The rabbit looks at him and shrugs. “I’m a typo.”
A woman and a dog sit on the same row as a man in a movie theater. From time to time, the dog breaks out in laughter. At the end of the movie, the man says to the woman, “I am amazed that your dog was watching the movie and laughing!” The woman puts her hand on her chest and replies, “I’m just as amazed as you are! He hated the book.”
The past, present and future walk into a bar. It got tense.
Another way to relieve stress: READ A GOOD BOOK. My suspense novels are available on Amazon.
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