A morning bird story & a bit on stress and relaxation

Greetings from the other side.

The day started quite interestingly, as my girlfriend opened up one of our closets and a small bird flew out. Poor little thing was so panicked. We managed to confine it to one room, and then I went in and opened the window so it could get out. It must have been a terrifying experience for the little bird, feeling trapped and not really knowing what was going on or who us giants were. We have found where we think it got in, and we are now taking measures to make sure it doesn't happen again.

One aspect of living in the country side that I find very relaxing is looking through a window and watching all the small birds fly and jump around outside. You feel a lot closer to nature and the natural world out here, than I ever did while I was living in a city. Though Umeå as a city did have quite a lot of forested areas within the city as well. It still wasn't the same as this though. That's not to say I didn't enjoy living there either. It was a nice city to live in, and I highly recommend people to go there if they haven't been there already. It's also a good place to study if you are a student. Though I should probably stop talking about this before I start sounding like an advertisement. Just saying it how I feel having lived there for many years. :)

Now onto the subject of stress and the importance of relaxation.

Stress is such a negative thing for us humans, at least in too high quantities it is. A bit of stress is fine, for the most part. Excessive amounts of stress however is part of the issue with today's society. And different people have different thresholds for how much stress they can handle. People get burned out, stressed out, suffer from depression and anxiety because of stress and the weight of expectation. I know this because I have been there myself in the past. As have my girlfriend, and many others. Therefore I think it so important to find those peaceful moments in life, enjoy them and cherish them. Being able to just relax for a moment is so incredibly important. Some people have a day a week, for example Sunday, that is devoted to rest. No, I am not talking specifically about Christians here, as that doesn't hold true for all Christians. It is more the idea I am talking about. Having a day devoted to rest, relaxation and re-charging of your inner batteries can be so incredibly important. I'm not saying you should stay in bed all day or just lay around on the couch watching movies. What I mean is that it should be a day where you do things that you enjoy, that aren't stressful to you or weighted down by a bunch of "musts" or "have to"s. Living in the modern society can be very stressful to a lot of people. There are a lot of expectations, work, etc. So having a day when you can just relax can be incredibly important.

I am not saying that letting yourself rest one day a week will keep you from burning out. All I am saying is that it can't hurt to focus on yourself and the things that make you happy and relaxed once in a while, rather than the things that you "should" or "must" do. I think that is good for your soul.

See you all on the other side!