Do you have any personal rituals you use to get you through rough times? Mine seems to be cleaning things, whether or not they need cleaning.

-- Becky (becky-says@diaryland.com), August 08, 2001

Answers

The harder life gets, the more often I brush my teeth, sometimes every few hours. There's nothing compulsive about it, just a low cost, no calorie bit of self-care which probably provides extra oral gratification in a healthy way. Seems silly, but when the world around me is beyond my control, I at least know that I don't have to have furry teeth or nasty breath. It makes me feel more ready to face the challenges before me.

-- Wendy, NC (wendykimbel@mindspring.com), August 08, 2001.

Amongst other things is to stop and by just looking around me that there are others in more dire straits and sadness than I am. Then the wonderful Serenity Prayer and the mental recitation of same helps me differentiate between what I can do and what is impossible to do - along with wisdom to handle it.

-- Denver doug (ionoi@webtv.net), August 15, 2001.

stretch, relax, meditate, watch the sunset when ever possible, maybe even catch a nice rainbow trout as it jumps from the water

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), March 11, 2002.