How to unwind

If you are anything like the contributors to this site, this is your day:

Wake up around 7-ish, get ready and go to work. Work an 8 hour shift. Go home and read. Or go to class. Go to bed at 11-ish. Friday nights are spent with your nose in a book. Papers due. Topics to think about. Deconstruction all around, and not only in the literature-in you brain!! Competition, anxiety...counting the credits until you are done. Trying to figure out where or how you will get your phD. Ok, you get the picture. If you are always in this hyper state of consciousness, you will find this post very helpful. Tips on relaxing and learning to lighten the proverbial load you are carrying on your shoulders. And yes, I am aware that other people have bigger problems, like where they will sleep at night or get their next meal. So save your sarcastic comments for the next NPR show.

Tips on relaxing

1. Meditating - It is a great way to center yourself, focus, and breathe easier.

2. Walking - Releases tension and allows you to familiarize yourself with your surroundings.

3. Cardio - If you are upset, by the end of the workout you will be so tired, you won't even think about what upset you to begin with. Not to mention those wonderful endorphins.

4. Spa day - Pamper yourself with a massage, pedicure, facial, manicure. Maybe you just need to be touched ;-) There is something to be said about the healing powers of the hands.

5. Vacation - If you can afford this AND you have the time, it is highly recommended.

6. Paint - Even if you are bad, you can find it to be quite therapeutic.

7. Listen- Music can be soothing, as long as it's mellow and allows you to escape for a little while.

8. Touch- If you have a "pettable" animal, spend time with them. Both of you will benefit. Play. Pet. Cuddle.

9. Get out - Go to the park and just sit.

10. Driving - I love hitting golf balls. And I am good at it. It's fun to see it sail over the green. It's about $5 for a huge bucket of balls. Just do it!!

Hope this is helpful.

How to: Work it on Spring Break

Ahhh... Spring Break. That time of year in a co-ed's life when new spring wardrobes are unveiled, tequila is chugged, and trying to look "hot" to the opposite sex becomes the way of life. Below I'll list a couple of Do's and Don'ts when it comes to how to be have on Spring Break.

Do's:

Do make the most of your trip. If you're heading to an exotic locale, don't just get wasted, sleep until 3:00 and do it again. Take day trips. Take a surf lesson. Get some sun you pale, whitey.

Do wear sunscreen.

Do hydrate often.

Do act a' fool. But not too much a' fool.

Do get a bikini wax.

Do shave your armpits, hippie.

Don'ts:

Don't find a "vacation boyfriend". My friends from college and I always joked because we had friends who, no matter where we went, ended up with "vacation boyfriends". This is when a girl meets a guy during day or night #1 and continues to make out, stalk, annoy, and then get broken up with by this same guy during the span of a week or less. Don't do it.

Don't go home with a stranger.

Don't wear a backless shirt. And at that, don't wear anything that you wouldn't wear back home either. You don't want to look back at the pictures years later and call yourself a slut. You just don't.

Don't puke at a bar and then try to find a boy to make out with.

Don't ditch a friend. Don't leave a friend with a douche bag.

Don't attempt the triple kiss.

Don't kiss your girlfriends for attention.

Don't let a strange dude lick a shot off your belly.

Don't think you're cute and speak Spanish to the Mexicans based on your Spanish I and Spanish II courses in high school.

Don't screw with the locals anywhere you go.

Don't be the psycho girlfriend!!!

Yes, it's hard. Relationships are very hard. How does a guy deem a girl as "psycho" when describing her to his next (yes I said it) girlfriend? When a guys says psycho, does he mean needy, whiny, temperamental, or moody? All of the above. How can a girl stop herself from being the psycho ex? Examine the list and see if you fall into any of the categories.

Let me count the ways ---

You:

1- Call him more than 2xs a day and he hasn't called you once yet.

2- Tell him you miss him when you just saw him 5 minutes ago.

3- Ask him to come by and if he doesn't, you give him the silent treatment or worse, throw a temper tantrum.

4- Move in a few days or just a couple of weeks into the relationship.

5- Drunk dial him more than once a week.

6- Talk about your children together and you have been together less than a year.

7- Arrange his clothes drawers.

8- Do his laundry and you don't live together.

9- Don't want to go anywhere without him.

10- Are jealous of his friends and family.

11- Cry when he leaves you for the night or to go out with friends or family.

12- Call him repeatedly when he's out.

13- Expect him to let you know his every move.

14- Call him excessively at work.

15- Expect him to call you every day (GET REAL!!!)

16- Tell him you've talked to your therapist about him.

17- Tell him you just want to love him.

18- Tell him how he feels about you

19- Start using the word "we" when you are really talking about "you."

20- Don't listen to what he is saying and try to tell yourself what you think he means, and proceed to tell him.

I am sure I am missing loads more, please feel free to post your comments.