As for many of you, 2017 has been a challenging year for me. Through these challenging experiences, I learned about how meaning and expectations affect stress. Much of the stress I experienced was increased because I put meaning into results I could not affect. If an expected outcome didn’t happen,…
Earlier this year, we started a search for our new home. We had a pretty big laundry list of desirables. After some time searching, we found one that fit our bill. Right number of bedrooms. Extra storage. Close to the bus stop since we only had one car. Financially sound…
Obviously experiencing a tropical storm is a major life event. I learned much from the storm including how to manage anxiety after disaster. During the tropical storm, we battled water leaking into the home for hours. We worried about not having safe drinking water or if the electricity would come…
While waiting for the next viewing at the Los Cabos International Film Festival, I overheard a couple talking. He said, “I’m sorry if I am not a real man. I don’t like sports. I respect women. And I don’t want to fight to prove myself.” I wanted to give him…
Monotony. Dealing with the same challenges, the same tasks, the same routine day after day, week after week, can increase our stress levels. We are Sisyphus trapped, more likely doomed, to experience the same thing again and again and again without finding success or relief. Redundancy without resolution in our…
Netflix has many terrific shows lately. One of them is “The Crown” which is about Queen Elizabeth. A scene in the first season really struck me. It is a dialogue between Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. Here is a condensed version: Queen Elizabeth (QE): “It doesn’t feel right as head…
For a while now, besides helping entrepreneurs and busy professionals with stress reduction and finding success without the stress, I have been helping those who have recently been laid off. What I have found is teaching the best practices for job transition is easy. What is more challenging is helping…
Are you going through some things you don’t like? Are you having some challenges? Are things not going the way you planned? I received this story from my mother-in-law the other day: A visiting priest was attending a men’s breakfast in farm country. He asked one of the impressive older…
Often when I work with those frustrated by their current position, we come to the point of choosing between Change, Acceptance, and Leaving. When you are in a situation which is not working for you, you have three choices: Change: What can you change about the situation to make it…
2017 has thrown a lot of challenges my way. Not only do I have the stress many of us are feeling about the current American political system, but I have had some personal challenges as well. My husband and my work both increased which is great, but we were not…