Coping With Negativity

No matter who you are or where you are from, it seems to me anyway, everyone has to experience negativity in this world.  I find it interesting so let us dissect it a moment, shall we?

People already seem to have a hard time understanding each other.  Ten people can see the same movie, read the same story, or hear the same song, and perceive completely different things.

Next, stress comes in a multitude of forms.  Think of the stress of not having any money compared to the stress of having too much money (winning the lottery, say).  Compare the stress of getting into a good college, or the stress of dating with the stress of your cat running away from home, or the stress of finding you have diabetes or losing your eye to a tragic rubber band incident.

It seems like we are all hurtling through space unable to escape what appears to be certain negativity.  Because the negativity comes in so many forms, we feel isolated by our personal negativity and unable to help others with theirs, which only causes more stress.  The internet and other technology has made it easier for others with similar types of stress to find each other, and they form groups and I'm told that this is a very useful way to cope.  If stress is everywhere in this world, and we are indeed finding ways to reduce it, much like finding a cure to a disease, can we say this is progress in society that we don't even realize we are making?  Is the technology breeding more stress with every bit it takes away.  Is there a fixed quantity of stress on Earth like energy that can neither be created or destroyed but only change forms?  Whoa.

I have been under different forms of stress lately, and I assume I am dealing with it well.  I do wonder sometimes how much stress I am under, on a stress scale.  I always assume others have more stress than I do: kids, car problems, relationship problems, I don't know, I guess I feel like I have little I should complain about.  But scratch the surface, I'm dealing with a major family loss, a major career change, dealing with mounting debt from college, all the while my wife is going through the same types of life changes too.

I bring this up because drinking is typically a universal constant for dealing with stress, at least stereotypically.  I think I blogged before about trying to find a different outlet - hopefully a healthy one, to let go of stress.  Sadly, exercise has not yet entered into the running.  I guess I have been keeping so busy at work and I do like my job, that working late actually feels rewarding, so, much like when I was a teenager, work is the cause of and solution to some of my stresses.

Anybody out there care to let me know a way of unwinding that doesn't involve drinking or exercise?

No messing around: A sober Vegas Trip

Audra and I decided we needed to get away for a weekend. We really have not had much chance to take a trip just the two of us. In fact, the last time we did that was almost 7 years ago, about the time I promised her I would take her to Vegas. We only stayed two nights and three days, but man did we make the most of it.

I will say that being sober made it a very different trip compared to my previous ones - of course so does being with your Wife, so it's hard to say. No drunken adventures or crazy tales like in the movies. It was okay for this purpose, which was to introduce Audra to the more wholesome side of the city. One thing I have noticed about staying sober is that it is much easier to do in a larger group. If you are with only one or two other people, and those people are drinking, time behaves differently. It makes sense, there seems to be so much more to talk about when there is alcohol involved.

Vegas removes barriers - you can drink on the street, you never have to drive, and sure the drinks are expensive, but so is the diet coke:) This post will contrast the last post by saying that this trip made the positive side of drinking very evident, but that didn't mean I was about to have one - even though what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas;)

She didn't mind either, she will come back later with her girlfriends and misbehave. At least she will know her way around now!