What do you do to relax?

My yellow gerbera. Very sensitive plant. Just a little excess water will make it droopy. My yellow begonia. I have red begonia as well. I love them. They are so beautiful. They just produce flowers and more flowers!

Do you go out and see a film? Do you go to the beach? Do you go out with friends to have a good laugh? You can actually do any of the above. My husband and I do different things like getting a DVD that we like. I get mine and he gets his - we like different films. I watch films on my own in the bedroom because I like girly flicks. He likes documentaries and war films. We also go to the beach and just sit there and relax. We go to a Thai treatment centre - I get a back, neck and shoulder massage which is completely heaven and husband gets a foot massage. But going to treatment centres to get this is luxury. With a tight budget, you cannot do this as often as you want it! Relaxing doesn't have to cost any of us a fortune. There is one thing that I have started doing and that truly helps me. Flower gardening!

Flower Gardening is therapeutic! I haven't done gardening my whole life. I am a beginner in this sort of thing. I had to buy books to help me. Even my husband who used to plant tomatoes and potatoes in his past life isn't very knowledgeable when it comes to flower gardening. So we both have to learn together. I'm finding it very interesting indeed. The potted plants above are the ones that are on my windowsill in the livingroom. I got them from a garden centre and the flowers were already blooming when I got them so I really didn't have to do much except to keep the compost moist at all times and to make sure they are fed. Watching the flowers bloom in the summer gives me the most relaxing feeling. We have a small garden in the front and back of the house that we try to maintain in whatever spare time we have. All the flowers are currently in bloom as well! An hour a day! And get some sleep! I have recently read in a magazine that we all have to get at least an hour a day to take our minds off things, forget all the worries and just sit and relax. It is not easy for me to do this especially when my boy is unwell. Husband and I have to be watchful 24/7. We get a little bit of rest when he is well enough to be at school. I make sure that I catch up on my sleep when I can. If my son is at home and he is ok and sleeping, I also go to bed and sleep. Husband sometimes doesn't feel like doing this. He finds it difficult to get some sleep just like that so he goes birdwatching when he can and he loves this so much. Lastly, Just do nothing. Remember when we were children when we would be outside doing nothing. Just looking blankly in space perhaps. Or looking at absolutely nothing. We probably looked like we were daydreaming but really it's doing nothing. If you have read one of Richard Templar's books, The Rules of Life, Rule No 24 is 'Leave a little space for yourself each day.' On the second paragraph, he asked, 'So what are you going to do with that time?' His answer: absolutely nothing. But in this busy world, as grown-ups, we are no longer used to doing nothing. My husband once said to my GP during one of my check-ups, 'My wife, as soon as she wakes up, she starts to do something. She never sits down. She is always doing something! Washing the dishes, hoovering, doing the laundry. I have to ask her to sit down with me in the lounge and just watch the telly!' My GP just looked at me and shrugged her shoulders, then said, 'You've got to relax a little bit.' She is right. My husband is right. Richard Templar is right. I have to stop and relax. We all do. So after posting this, I'm going to sit in the living room and do nothing. Absolutely nothing.