'If stress burned calories, I'd be a supermodel'

Admittedly, I might not have the best stress management skills; they're probably mediocre at best. Okay fine they're in the sub-par category. To elaborate, when I have work to get done (so basically all the time), I get busy and forget to eat, and by the time 10 pm rolls around, I'm like "Shoot! I haven't eaten all day!" And if I have time, I then proceed to stuff my face with food or saltine crackers because I don't know how to cook. Unhealthy eating habits? Check.

I also become an insomniac. I get too tense with worry over how much I have to get done that I can't sleep because I'm either thinking I should spend this time doing work or I am simply too tense to relax into REM. So please excuse the bags under my eyes. My cousin once said I resemble a panda. Lovely.

To make things worse for myself, I tack on more responsibilities and items on my To-Do List because the busier my schedule is means less time for me to realize how my life is on the brink of shambles and that I. Need. To. Slow. Down.

But I digress, and since I'm trying this thing called self-awareness, I know I should find better ways to deal with stress. This involves me

• Taking deep deep breathes yoga style (I suggest doing this somewhere relatively private and alone though to avoid getting weird looks and getting asked if I need an inhaler)
• Maintaining perspective. When it seems like the walls are caving in (where's that inhaler?), I look up at the sky, the stars to remind myself how insignificant my problems are in the long run and how blessed I am. There are always always always worse problems to have, and I remember I am stressed because I am working hard so I can be in a position one day where I can help those who have those worse problems.
• Playing piano and running, obviously not together simultaneously. I grouped these together because this is relatively new. It's ironic that nowadays these are my stress-relievers because in high school they were two of the main sources of my stress. Without the pressure of performance, playing piano for the pure sake of music and running for the pure sake of endorphins helps me release the tension. I'm sure my mom and my waistline will appreciate this if I keep this up in the long term.
• Watch hilarious youtube videos. Laughing and being stressed should never belong in the same sentence. Wait...

In addition to packing myself snacks to remind myself to eat, and eventually becoming so tired I pass out into a minor self-induced coma, I am trying to incorporate the aforementioned activities so I don't stress as much and enjoy life because that's what truly matters.