How My Cats Taught Me The Art Of Relaxation.
It seems as if life just keeps getting busier and busier and time flies by faster and faster. Stress is now a daily occurrence. I, along with everyone else, am trying to find ways to relax and de-stress. It would be nice if I could just flip a switch and suddenly remove all stress from my life and be “relaxed”.
One day while I was contemplating relaxation techniques, I glanced over at my 2 cats, Meilo and Paulo, to see they were stretched out and completely relaxed. They made it look so easy!
So my first thought was “of course they are relaxed…they don’t have any stress in their lives”. They have no mortgage, no car payments, and no family challenges. No stress at all. But, that isn’t really true. They do experience stress. When the neighbor dog is chasing them at warp speed across the yard…that is stressful. When they get caught outside during a thunderstorm…that is probably stressful. But, 5 minutes after these events, they can be found lounging on their favorite blanket relaxed and purring.
How do they do it…and how can I do it too?
The short answer is “they don’t dwell on stressful situations”. They don’t worry about the next time the dog will chase them. It happened and now it is over. Period.
So, I thought about how I could apply some of that logic. When something stressful happens in my life, I try not to worry and dwell on it and stay in a stress-filled state. Instead, I take a few minutes to analyze what happened, why it happened, and then determine what I can do about it. If I can do something about it…I do. If I can’t, I acknowledge that I can’t and let it go.
It isn’t always easy, but this practice has certainly allowed me to remove unnecessary stress and worry from my life. And, in return, I fill my time with activities that rest my body or fill me with joy. Even as I write this blog…I am sitting in my favorite chair, in my favorite room, sipping a new Cabernet Franc. Ahhhh…relaxation!
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
–Reinhold Niebuhr