How do you recharge?

I'm in need of a little rejuvenation this weekend. The week was a little blah, and I was a little blah.. and it's time to pull myself out of the blah.

My question to you is - How do you recharge?

I have a variety of ways I pull myself out of a funk. I think it's the secret to my "resilience" and I thought I might share a few of those techniques right here.

1. Write. I think that's a given. I write it all out here. I even have a private journal I keep at home. If you are not accustomed to writing out your feelings, I suggest you give it a try. It's incredibly therapeutic. Grab an old spiral notebook, set your alarm for 10 minutes, grab a pen and just write. Typically anything I write is just a stream of thought.. nothing more. I promise, you'll feel great afterwards.

2. Get a good night's sleep. For whatever reason, it's not easy to sleep well during the work week for me. By the time I get home from work, I'm either so zonked I end up dozing off on the couch. Of course that means I wake up about 8:30 or 9 and end up staying up to almost midnight. What I like to do is take a nice weekend night, go to bed at a decent hour (for me that's 10:30pm,) and sleep to about 8 or so. I usually wake up feeling refreshed.

3. A good hot bath. I like to pour the bubbles or bath oils, and just soak. I immediately feel my muscles relax, and my stress sort of is soothed away.

4. Read. Even if it's just a magazine, pick something up. If I can get engaged in a book, I sort of release and relax my brain from my worries and troubles.

5. Music. I always joke and say that music is the poor man's therapist. I will typically grab my ipod - iphone, throw my ear buds in and just dance around my apartment. I will sing, dance.. just sit and digest the lyrics. It puts me in a great mood.

6. Organize something. Usually when I feel yucky, my surroundings begin to look yucky. I find that if I vacuum, if I straighten my closet, if I wash my sheets - just something... I begin to feel like I have a sense of control over my life again.

7. Games. Play a game of mahjong, chess, uno - something like that. Do a word search. Just exercise your brain. It's amazing how it sort of wakes you up and you feel great.

8. Smell and eat citrus. There is something incredibly positive about the smell of oranges. Plus the additional Vitamin C from consuming them is great also.

9. Drink water. Hydration can help your stress headaches and you just feel good.

10. I'll admit - good conversation and maybe a cup of coffee can really make me feel like a million bucks.

So there you have it... my top 10 ways to recharge and get a good perspective. I realize I left something super important out - and that's prayer. Spend some time in nature, go to a church, or just meditate. Find a way to recharge that part of you, and you will feel a sense of peace.

With that.. it's time for me to go find myself again. Shake off the yuck and feel great!