As an herbalist and purveyor of old home remedies I know just what to do. Get out to the range, crack a vial of gunsmoke under your nose and inhale deeply. Your head will clear right up.
My biggest disappointment in living in suburban America is that all we have is in-door ranges. No rifles or shotguns. Although I did pay a few bucks some months ago for a class on shotguns, mostly just to famfire (familiarization firing).
We practiced with a .410, 20 guage, 12 guage (870), and a semi-auto 12 guage (very cool). My only experience with a shotgun was many years ago during Navy while shooting from the shoulder. Learned how to shoot from the hip and under the armpit. I was surprised to find such little recoil from the hip and armpit...just swings in your arms if kept away from the body. Of course, not as accurate as from the shoulder.
However, I have a brilliant light and laser combo on my 870 for home defense. No, I'm not going to go hunting for intruders - can't believe how many macho guys think that is a good thing. My wife and I have the following protocol:
We lock the door in the closest room; call 911 and let them know about the intruder and that "we are in fear for our lives"; keep the line open; and hunker down with 12guage facing the door. If the intruder[s] try to gain entrance, I simply say, "the police are on the way". Depending how hard they're trying to gain entrance, I may say, "there's a shotgun behind this door, I will fire". And no, I will not count on the racking sound to deter them, as so many claim. I will already have one in the chamber. They get a warning and then get 9 bullets at once, and I can rack fast so another 9 bullets coming at them.
Our home-defense philosophy is let them take what they will rather than face a Prosecutor inquiry and/or a civil suit or worse, their weapons. This is California. However, enough pushing on the door, 00 buck is going to make its mess.