This is an excellent post! I've been down that road of masking and temporarily relieving stress / anxiety / depression with drugs and alcohol many times and all it does is make things worse in the long run.
There are plenty of healthy ways to deal with these problems that provide long term relief from the pain that comes throughout one's life. I picked up running and yoga about 8 years ago and they've both helped me out tremendously. I'm not always consistent with them though as I still let work and other things get in the way and yes I still turn to those guilty pleasures that end in even more misery from time to time. And I regret it each and every time I do that.
Thanks for the reminder to stay focused on what's really important and what is truly going to provide relief from the unpleasant things that life throws at us.
Excellent, yes - anything that gets the blood moving and energies flowing will help. When this is combined with allowing the more subtle energies to flow by way of increasing awareness of emotional health and blockages - then clearing them, we have the foundation for sustained balance. :)