A Less Stressful Life

As I sit by my window, listening to the sounds of summer….the wind sighing through the evergreens, the robins playing in the sprinkler; I find myself unwinding and slowly relaxing. It was an almost sleepless night, a very busy morning of running to town to bank and shop, and then coming home to put groceries away and the like.  Sitting and taking a deep breath is a nice break.

We often feel we shouldn’t slow up in the day; that our every minute must be crammed with “to do” lists of work and play. We feel guilty when we just want to hang out in our yard or home with a good book or just close our eyes and soak up a couple of minutes peace.  But why? After all, we are the captain of our life; for the most part we can choose certain things each day to make them smoother; to make them a little brighter. So what is it in us that makes us feel that we are wasting our time when we just do nothing?

The answer is what I believe to be the danger of our society; the cancerous idea that erodes our every being. This is the belief that we must act like squirrels scurrying through the fall afternoon; hoarding up winter’s food….frantically running from one place to another. We keep trying to fill our lives with things; with achievements that will mean so very little later on.

So to test my theory, try this:

Think what you did exactly one month ago on this day. Think what you did that was so important; so demanding that it positively HAD to be done; right now! Can’t remember? Neither can I. That’s the point I’m trying to make. We don’t need to be half as busy or stressed as we are; we don’t HAVE to do half of the things we do in our day but still we keep racing through our life as if our hair was on fire.

So today as you go out into the world; as you look at your “honey do” list remember this. If you were to die today would you rather of spent it taking the kids to baseball practice and mowing the lawn or would you of rather spent it doing something lovely and fun with your family? It’s your choice…..and only you can decide what is important. So try to do just that….make it memorable and you’ll be a much happier, much less stressed person!