STRANGER STOP AND CAST AN EYE...

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

In Times of Great Stress.....

The solution? Stress balls!

"Stress-busting balls have been in use right from ancient civilization days for a wide range of medical uses. Apart from relieving stress, they were used to improve coordination, treat arthritis and rheumatism, improve the circulation of blood, and help you in focusing the mind during meditation. They also help in the treatment of carpal-tunnel syndrome."

Years, even as recently as months ago, I did not see the point of stress balls. Honestly, they seemed to hurt the hand more by squeezing it, rather than helping to relieve stress. Though, they do make great toys to chuck at people and what not.

So back in April/May, during IB exam time, and friend of mine and I, started carrying around our stress balls.
Her's was the world:
And mine, of a brain:
All throughout the exam period, I carried mine around, more as a humourous show piece, and a toy, than anything (if you think about it, the shape of our stress balls are quite ironic/funny/fitting). And occationally using them (and again, hand hurts from squeezing too much).

Then last week, something interesting happened. I was in class, the morning of my bio exam, trying to do some last minute cramming. While I was doing that, I noticed that I really wanted something to squeeze in my right hand. Alas, I did not bring my brain with me that day, but luckily my cell phone charm, is this rather large (for a cell) plushie, that is spherical/cube shaped.

(Which looks very much like this guy, sans the hole, and the cherries 2D on the side of this head)

So... is this stress ball using really usefull, or just a habit? Either way, it does provide some comfort at stressful times; especially with those of us who likes to fiddle with something when nervous (honestly, my scripts = dead by the end of a presentation). Either way, they come in very amusing shapes, and very fun to look at, at least.


* * *
BD: Louis Armstrong, Barack Obama

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