Escape

Had a really really long past couple of days.  I was on weekend duty at the station, had a family emergency, had to sit in a cold classroom, made a couple avoidable mistakes, had people issues, no sleep, and I attempted to cook for 15 hungry firefighters/EMS crews.  Needless to say I was not in the best of moods at several points these last couple of days.  I desperately needed to be in at least two places at once, I had multiple issues that all had valid demands on my time, I was worried, stressed, tired, frustrated, and cold (seriously I like the cold, but I don't think I was warm once this weekend)!  I was at my wit's end, I felt like I was ready to snap and go ballistic on people who may or may not have deserved a good tongue lashing, instead I took a slightly more saner route.  I went to my bunk and pulled out my book and read.  Instantly I was able to go away from all the crappy stuff.  In the twenty minutes I allowed myself to read, I was able to let my brain release all that tension and frustration.  The book took me somewhere else and let me be part of another story and that was all I needed.  When I was done with my mini-break I found myself much calmer, much more able to come at my problems (most of which were not that bad, they just all happened at once) from a more logical manner.  This is one of the reasons I always keep a book on me, all it took was a second to open the pages and another minute to get completely immersed in the story.  This little pick-me up made all the difference in the world.  OK enough whining, but seriously if you are ever feeling overwhelmed, stop everything and read, even if it is just a couple of pages.  It is amazing to me soothing effect a reading a book can have.

Escape

Have you ever had a day that feels like everything is going wrong?  Isn't amazing how little issues that are usually not that big of a deal seem so much worse when they all happen at once?  What do you like to read when you are upset?  Have you ever had a book stress you out so much that you had to read a different one just to calm down?