Oh stress, leave me alone!

I must admit, the past week hasn't been easy for me. I've been stressing out about all sorts of things and surprisingly, work has been the least stressful for me (busy but not stressful). Although I am old enough to live on my own, we're a traditional family in the sense that I'm expected to live at home for a while longer. My mom's in the States now and being the eldest child at home, I'm in charge of managing the household. I need to keep track of the expenses, make sure everything is running smoothly, check up on my little sister and her school work... All the usual stuff.

I've been doing that for the past few weeks and I was looking forward to not being home this weekend but I accidentally overbooked myself with things I HAD to do and things I WANTED to do. So that added to a little of the stress too.

There's been a bunch of other stuff happening too but I won't bore you with my personal drama. I think you all get the gist of this past week.

Everything got me thinking, "What could I do for myself to deal with all this stress?" Here's what I came up with:

1. Naturally, first up is a massage. A good massage never fails to get me relaxed and in a good mood.
2. Parlor day! Nothing relieves stress like a full-on girly day at the parlor. Manis, pedis, a shampoo and blowdry. It's always a good thing to feel pretty.
3. Happy music! There are just some songs that make you wanna jump up and dance and just forget all the bad things in the world. I stand by my belief that Don't Stop Me Now by Queen is the ultimate feel good song. Also, my guilty pleasure, TiK ToK and the pretty song in the video I posted. Hahaha.
4. A good book on a rainy day. Rain means cuddle weather. And when there's no one to cuddle with, a good book is just as good. I love reading. It's my favorite form of escapism. More than watching movies or sitcoms, drawing, doodling or writing, I enjoy reading. Right now, I'm reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. It's not the happiest of novels (I would go so far as to say the subject matter is actually quite depressing) but it's one of those books you can just read over and over again. I pick up something new from it every time I read it.
5. Of course, I can't forget dancing. I've been a dancer since as far back as I can remember and I just love going to pole class after a bad day and dancing out all my frustrations. The endorphins partenered with the sheer thrill I get from moving to the music makes me walk out of the studio with a huge smile on my face and a positive outlook on life.

I want to just put together a whole list of fool-proof ways to get rid of stress, a reference for all the bad days. I've been drowning in happy music all day and I have pole class tonight. Things are definitely starting to look up.