Is your head buzzing at the end of a long day at work? People are under more pressure to perform these days than at any time in the last fifty years. I wouldn’t dare compare our daily discomforts to the children who were sent to work down mines a ten years old, or those who were forced to climb chimneys, brush in hand. Even today, slavery is rife around the world, as are long working hours for a pittance. But we live here, in this society. No matter how good most of us in this country have it, we are only human, and working pressure will weigh heavily on us. Unlike those poor people mentioned earlier, we can get away from it all at the end of the day when we go home. Some people find it impossible to switch off when they go home, and this leads to more pressure building up the following day. If pressure, frustration, and worry are not relieved, mental illness is sure to follow. Next comes time off work and possibly as lifetime of medication.
We have to do something about this, it has already got out of hand. We can actively put a stop to the daily pressure and find calm in our home. Here’s my favourite seven ways that I use to achieve this.
Telephones
When you finish work at the end of the day, contact any family you may be worried about and then turn off your mobile phone and disconnect the landline. It is not written into law that we should all be contactable 24 hours a day. This has only become a problem over the last fifteen years. Mobile phones have their use I admit, but lines should be drawn if your health is at risk.
Television
Stop watching the news on television in the evenings. The news is full of doom and gloom preached by heartless Etonian idiots who seem hell bent on making ordinary working people feel worthless. Block them at all costs. Buy a DVD such as the potters wheel or a burning fireplace; anything that is very relaxing to watch
Lighting
Install dimmer switches for your lights wherever possible. Table lamps create a relaxed, moody feeling to the room too. No-one can relax if the room is too bright.
Internet
A certain social networking site has become the scourge of the internet. You know to which one i refer. Again here, you do not need to be instantly contactable. If your mobile phone is already turned off; good. Now don’t be tempted to read other peoples woes with your computer either. This addiction that people are suffering with seems harder to give up than smoking and causes endless arguments.
Music
Playing background, gentle music relaxes us subconsciously.
Relax
Take a bath before your leisure time begins. Perhaps you have a shower every morning to clean yourself but the bath is purely to relax those muscles. It is a wise investment in the long run, to install the bathroom of your dreams. Is is simple to browse and buy bathroom supplies online these days. Use the computer for something productive.
Real fire
There is nothing to equal the flickering and crackling of a real fire if you can afford one. There are gas fired options that come a close second, however, and don’t need lighting and cleaning every day.
Flooring
Use thick pile carpet in your living room. It feels great underfoot and gives a warm feeling too. The use of laminate flooring is taking all of the character from our rooms.
Well, I could go on and on all day, but those are my seven recommendations for you to follow. Keep adding new techniques and adding to your surroundings as you get new ideas. Always keep in mind too, that there are people far worse off than yourself. It’s all a matter of perspective.