The Therapeutic Benefits of Vacuuming

I sat down this morning to write a story to post and realized I might not have it in me.  The past week or so has been tough.  Our Akita, Bruno, ruptured his cruciate ligament in his left knee requiring surgery to repair, my son’s day care provider lost her husband this last weekend, temporarily closing the day care, meaning I will be taking care of my granddaughter a couple of days a week for the time being and my husband’s grandmother was diagnosed with leukemia.  All this on top of helping my mom as she struggles with chemo, and it side effects, for lung cancer and a cold, I am feeling a bit rung out.  It is said one way to handle extra stress is to focus on the positive things, get plenty of rest and exercise, but that can be hard to do when it feels like everything including the kitchen sink is being thrown at you.

After dropping Bruno off at the vet for his surgery I came home to our retriever, Bella and a quiet house, drank my second cup of coffee and decided what I really needed to do was clean the house.  It may sound a bit strange but I have found over the years that the simple act of straightening up, dusting and vacuuming can have a positive effect on my mood.  It’s the just do something approach to dealing with stress.  Doesn’t matter what just some simple household task that can be completed in a small amount of time. 

So I pulled the sheets off the bed, stuffed them in the washer and fired up the vacuum cleaner.  I lost myself in the steady humming noise of the vacuum cleaner motor as I pushed it back and forth across the carpet.  Soon the floor was clean of all the bits and pieces left behind by two large dogs, remnants of toys, chew bones and fur. 

I felt a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and realized, yep, I can handle whatever comes my way by focusing on the positive, a clean floor, getting plenty of rest, a mental break from the thoughts swirling through my head as I zone out to the sound of the vacuum cleaner, and getting some exercise by pushing and pulling the vacuum as I walk around the living room.  Time to go play fetch with Bella and maybe get some writing done.