Day 7

Stress is not a really big issue for me. However, it used to be. I'd stress to the point of making myself sick because there just wasn't enough time in the day to meet everyone's demands and still have something left over for myself. I had a major wake up call a few years ago, and it changed my perspective on a lot of things. These days, I decrease stress by writing it all out. Sometimes I blog, sometimes I just free-think on a scrap of paper, other times I sully the pages of one of my journals with all the crap I just have to get out in order to go back to reality.
I really hate housework, but I notice that my stress level is much much lower when there isn't clutter lying around, when the furniture isn't sticky with little kid sugar prints all over it, when the walls look clean rather than like murals, or when there isn't a mountain of laundry stacked up. It's really worth it for me to put other things aside and just clean like mad for a bit if I start feeling out of sorts. Not only does it get the housework done, but I blow off some steam while snapping the wrinkles out of the clothes or scrubbing the grime off of things.
I relieve stress and detox from life in a number of ways, but probably the best way for me is just to physically exhaust myself until I can sleep and then wake up refreshed and ready to tackle another day and the problems that accompany it with a clear mind.