Packing Your Emotional ToolKit ~ Struggling During the Holidays? Or not Struggling?

Off the subject of homesteading, but on the subject of life. . .

However, homesteading is work, so it pertains to it in a way too.  It can be stressful.  Physically and mentally.  Or you could be the one person who zips right through the day without a thought.

We all have an emotional toolkit.  Whether we realize it or not.  We reach for a mood booster or a stress reliever when our chips are down or when we are feeling at our lowest.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are so close together here in America, it can be very stressful and many are struggling for various reasons.

It could be a loss of a loved one, an estranged adult child, someone close who is sick/ill, or anything really.  Just cleaning the house for a large gathering can be stressful.  The cost of buying all the food, and the time making all the dishes can be overwhelming. It could be an unexpected medical bill(s) for some.  It could be an tragic accident, or even unexpected home repair bill.  

We have a friend who is struggling due to the loss of her husband.  Another friend is worried about her unborn grandbaby (doctor stated it will have health issues), and at the same time her Dad fell, is in a nursing home and was recently diagnosed with cancer.  

What do you have packed in your emotional toolkit?  What is your mood improver?

Ideas:

-Gardening (hard to do here in winter)

-Exercise

-Cooking/Baking

-Cleaning/Deep Cleaning/Purging 

-Going for a walk

-Travel

-Music

-Getting off social media 

-Read a book

-Call a friend or meet up with your "tribe"

-Journaling (writing a thankful page can be very helpful for some)

-Praying

-Do something nice for someone/donate a meal or service

-Volunteer somewhere

-Work on favorite hobby or start a  new hobby

-Go to the library and browse books for free.  It's a great start to looking for a new hobby, home project, or just find a good book to read.

-Watch funny or feel-good movies.  Do you have a list?

-Update your home with a new look.  Move furniture around, paint a room, change your curtains, or add a rug or new pillows.  The list is endless for this one, and can perk you up.

-Get outside

Any positive way to increase your positivity is the way to go.  

It's easy to get outside and get some sunshine when you have pets or farm animals.  Do you try and get sunshine in the winter?

What is your winter mood improver?  Holiday stress mood improver?

60 minutes and three miles later....

When walking three miles didn't de-stress the stress yesterday, I gravitated to the kitchen where the singing began.

Instead of writing poems in my head, I was singing Johnny Cash's "Burn, burn burn...." as the shallots burned my eyeballs.    Oldest Daughter thought I was cracked in the head until the shallot fumes wafted into the living room, where it burned her eyeballs. 

Taken Away

Last weekend, hubby whisked me away again for a night away.  It was completely by surprise and completely at the last minute Friday.  We really enjoyed ourselves, and had some short, but well worth it, relaxation.  We brought some flowers along this time.  As parents, we are spending more (serious) time giving ourselves time away.  This stress stuff is serious and we are taking it seriously now more than ever.

I think we relax so easily, due to the quiet surroundings, peaceful sounds of the waves, and the lack of clutter around us.  Not to mention lack of kids sniveling and arguing, and lack of electronics and noise pollution.

This little strip of shops is basically downtown.  The island is only about 4.6 square miles. 

Our favorite coffee on the island.  Mmmmm!  The owner bakes all the baked items herself.

Our secluded retreat.  No people, no traffic, no nothing.  Just a few birds, waves and a few boats in sight.

It was island-wide garage sale day, so we decided to drive around and see what people had.  We were delighted to find an antique, round butter dish for only $2.00!  What a deal.  This works perfectly for the hormone free butter we buy.

The garage sale day allowed us to drive down private lanes and drives that normally are off limits to tourists.  We saw some very nice homes by the water's edge (and very expensive also).

We also found this green melmac bowl for $.25 and a set of blue rose plates (also melmac) for only $.75.  These will go in our wall tent or trailer/camper in the near future.

Hubby, being a goofball. Ha ha ha!

Although we had the luxury of cooking in our room, we try one new food each visit.  This trip we tried Plantain Nachos.  We enjoy this restaurant, with it's outdoor seating.  The nachos are delicious.  The chef slices plantains length-wise, bakes them out, and does a quick fry in duck fat.  They are crispy and thin.  Then the chef tops it with black beans, corn, green peppers, red onion and mouth watering spices (spicy).   It's topped with a bit of sour cream.  Maybe on the next trip, I will get a photo to share. 

An islander shared with us, another special treat to try on our next visit.

This week?  Back to deep cleaning I'm afraid.  However, when it's all done, it will be so nice and refreshing.  We may even be wood splitting this week.