Take a moment to consider how much of your week you allocate for activities with friends. When we feel stressed and short on time, it's easy to allow friendship time to diminish. We might find ourselves skipping our coffee break with a friend, avoiding a neighbor so we don't have to chitchat, or saying no to activities with our hiking club.
Interacting with other people helps stimulate a different part of the brain, allowing you to relax and take a much needed breather, especially during stressful times. Knowing that you aren't alone helps to eliminate a good deal of anxiety. A strong support network is associated with lower stress levels -- friendship is a stress buster!
Be sure not to hide behind the remote nature of social networking on the computer and actually go do something with another human being! If you have been a bit isolated and don't have many friends to get together with, start cultivating some new friendships. It takes a bit of courage, but realize that almost everyone feel somewhat disconnected these days. You are not alone in feeling alone!
Ask a friend to lunch and suggest that she bring another friend along too. If you exchange pleasantries with a neighbor, take the next step and invite them to walk around the block with you some evening. Visit the meetup.com website and make some new friends. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. Type in the area where you live and some of your interests, and you are sure to find others with similar interests. There are meetups for crafters, for hikers, for singles, for dog lovers, for movie fans...the list is endless.
Want to learn more ways to deal with stress? Susan J. Parker helps people eliminate the root causes of stress and pain. Claim your FREE e-book, Manage Stress Now - 25 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Stress at http://www.planetbioscan.com/free-report.html
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