Self Induced Stress

A couple of months ago, my youngest said something that struck me profoundly...  It was in the morning and we were running late.  I tried to hurry him along to no avail.  His calm demeanor prevailed as he said to me: "Mom, it doesn't matter if I hurry or not.  We always get to school on time anyway."

It stopped me dead in my tracks as I realized that he was right!  We always did make it on time.  The only difference was that I was stressed and he was not!  It did not change the result.  I was choosing to be stressed.

In the following weeks I choose to see and live life from his perspective in the morning.  I learned that stress can be totally self induced, because of perceptions and principals we set for ourselves.  I wasn't stressed anymore and he continued to be calm and get to school on time.

I noticed too that it applied to a lot of different aspects in life.  Things need to get done, but I was putting extra pressure on myself.  Letting go of that added stress was quite freeing and led to greater focus and more energy to get what needed to get done done.

Next time you feel pressured and/or stressed, take a moment to see how much of that feeling is self induced. Then, if needed and wanted, choose to let the self induced stress go.  It does make life easier and more enjoyable.  :)