by Anita Wellington

Created on: March 01, 2010

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Don't you hate it when you get up from the couch after an hour of sitting there flipping channels, only to discover that there was actually nothing good on and you just wasted 60 minutes of your lifetime?  I do.

There's always that small section of the day where we just want to kick back, relax, and not have to work for one gosh-darn second of our lives.  But we also want to feel refreshed, invigorated, happier, and, let's face it, "chilled out" when we're finished with our down time.  There's nothing wrong with catching a great movie on TV, or rooting for your favorite team on Sundays.  But when we sit there day after day, flipping mindlessly through shows that don't hold an iota of our interest, it wears us down, and we walk away feeling even more uptight than when we started out!

Here's a few ways I like to kick back without indulging that little square box.

1.  Read a book.  There's nothing like a great book to stimulate my brain, or help me forget about the stresses in my life.  My personal favorites are the mysteries, especially Agatha Christie's or Dean Koontz.  I'm currently enthralled with Sherlock Holmes.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous detective takes me back to turn-of-the-century London, and I'm right there catching the bad guys with him.  If mysteries aren't your style, try a good romance novel or a light-hearted Erma Bombeck title.

2.  Listen to music.  My iPod is full of songs that relax me, make me get up and move, or drift me gently off to sleep.  Music broadens our horizons and helps us get out those yucky emotions we keep bottled up.  I'm convinced there's nothing that compares to dancing around your house to your favorite tune from high school. =]

3.  Surf the Web.  Not just mindless searches, or endless hours of Farmville.  Go to Wikipedia and read up on something you've always wondered about, catch up with your friends on Facebook, write an email to your sister or a friend,  check out a funny website like www.icanhascheezburger.com and laugh your stresses away.  

4.  Play a game with your significant other.  How long has it been since you two duked it out on a hot game of Monopoly?

5.  Organize some small corner of your living establishment.  If that pile of clutter on your desk has been bugging you, straighten it up.  Take 10 or 20 minutes to de-clutter even a small area, and it's scientifically proven to make you feel calmer and more satisfied.  

6.  Spend some time with your pet.  If the weather's nice, put a leash on your best friend and take him for a nice long walk.  He'll feel better and so will you! If the weather's bad, stay inside and play tug of war or fetch with him.  Animals have a healing effect on people!

Think up other creative ways to spend your time and have fun doing it.  Do something you're good at, paint a picture, write a poem, take a photograph, sing a song to the mirror, bake a cake.  Enjoy life!

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