It happens to everyone. Sometimes, you just have a bad day. Well, I had a bad couple of days last week (and the week before, I got a flat tire). It started with the near death experience I had on the beltway heading to a client in Virginia. I didn’t realize that my lane was merging into the one next to me and I almost collided with a tractor trailer. Yes, I would have been toast. Fortunately, neither I nor my Jetta had any bruises. My week ended with American Express reducing my credit line even though I pay ahead of time and more than the minimum due. Yes, they can do that. To a small business owner, that’s like a death sentence. Their explanation: though I pay more than required and ahead of schedule, I didn’t pay enough and they wanted to give me a chance to pay off my balance. Huh? Still doesn’t make sense to me.

It turns out that there’s a “new” option for those of us who need to let off some extra steam. We can head to San Diego and visit Sarah’s Smash Shack. No, not the Sarah that just participated in the VP debate. This Sarah sells breakable items to throw at walls. You can hurl brightly colored vases, ceramic white dinner plates, or pretty china in sound proofed “break rooms”. There is a dress code: gloves, helmet, boots, and coveralls, but once properly outfitted, you can fling breakables at a steel-covered wall. The smash rooms even come iPod and MP3 player ready. That’s right, you can include a little music in your experience. An added bonus is that you’re also doing a good thing for the community. All broken glass is given away to local schools and art programs.

I probably won’t visit Sarah’s Smash Shack any time soon since I’d have to hop on a plane to get there. I’ll probably just spend a little extra quality time with my dog or do the next best thing – spend some time at my favorite sushi place. I’m beginning to feel better already just thinking about it.

Do you have a creative way of dealing with stress?

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