[Blindtlk] 10 natural ways to relieve stress

[Julie J.]

Peter,

I never said I was speaking for all blind people everywhere.  I said 
that stress, unhappiness and unemployment were not *my* current 
experience.  I understand that lots of blind people don't have jobs and 
are generally unhappy with their life situation.  And I have no problem 
with the words happy or unhappy.

I have been there too.  I had no job for a long time.  I've been 
homeless, if only for a few days.  I've eaten my fair share of Ramen 
noodles.   I've wondered how I was going to scrape together enough money 
to pay the bills, month after month after month.  However I always kept 
the mindset that the situation at hand was temporary.  You can be in an 
awful situation and still have hope. Sometimes that's all there is.

I'm not quite as old as you think.  I'll be 40 this year.  I don't know 
that families were all that much different when I was a kid.  I grew up 
in a mostly African American, poor area though.  BTW I am white.  I 
guess maybe growing up being the different kid allowed me to get real 
comfortable with being different and being okay with that.  Who knows?

Now, I work with young people with their first contact with the criminal 
justice system.  I see all sorts of different family groupings.  Some of 
them work and are healthy and some of them are not a good place for 
kids.  I don't see a strong correlation between a man and woman who have 
been married for a long time with only their own kids in the home and 
stability.  I have a single Dad raising five kids that I think should 
get parent of the year.  I have another youth who lives with her Aunt 
and Uncle and it is one of the most positive respectful families.  Some 
of the traditional families are good too.  I'm just saying that family 
comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes and I think it always has.

Perhaps what I am saying is that yes, bad stuff happens in the world.  
We all know that and can agree that blind people get more than our fair 
share of hardships.   I feel like I have a choice though.  I can choose 
to feel stressed and hopeless because the odds are that I won't have a 
job or I can choose to put all my effort in to finding a job or starting 
my own business.  No, it isn't easy and it won't happen overnight, but 
if I believe that it can happen for me, I have just dramatically 
increased the odds that it will.  "Whether you believe you can or you 
can't, either way you're right."A quote from the founder of the Ford 
motor company.

Blindness can be hard, very hard at times.  I choose to look at it as an 
opportunity though.  I feel like I have made many of the life choices I 
have because of my blindness, not despite it.  I have a strong need to 
challenge myself to learn new things and have new experiences.  
Blindness has made that easy.

This summer I am going survival camping.  I am going to learn stuff like 
how to make a fire with no matches, how to make rope, how to find 
drinking water and  how to make a shelter in the woods.   I am so 
excited for this opportunity!  It will be a challenge and I'll have to 
figure out many adaptations because of my blindness.   It's like a 
puzzle for me.  I love to figure out how I can accomplish the task.  
Occasionally I come across something that I can't do, but more often I 
surprise myself.  It also helps a lot to have wonderful email lists and 
other blind people willing to talk to me about similar things they have 
done.  I can build on what has already been discovered without 
reinventing the wheel.  *smile*

What are your goals? Your dreams?  If you knew you couldn't fail what 
would you do?  Let us help you figure out how to get there.

Julie