I see it in my face in the mornings when I wake up. I see it in my neighbours’ faces, in traffic…even my children are not immune to it! Why are we all stressed? Where are we all rushing to? What’s to win in this rat race? Questions, questions…but no quick answers.

In that tiny corner of my mind, a little voice says ‘ but the holy book says that a little more sleep comes poverty’ and so I’ve got to be busy doing something at all times. But….wait a moment! Am I doing productive stuff? Am I actually staving off poverty with this activity that doesn’t quite appear to be leading me anywhere I want to go? Am I sweating the small stuff? Getting worked up over issues I have no control over? Now, I’ve managed to ask even more questions!

 

Now for the answers…I wish I could say I knew them all. But I do know that we can’t cope when we have bitten off more than we can chew. I will use myself as an example. Busy career woman (kinda sounds cool to describe myself that way ;)) with children and multiple interests in wellness/training and facilitation  that keeps me pretty busy 24 hours of every day. I start everyday with a long list of things that I’ve got to accomplish. Some days, I’m lucky and I get through them all. Some other days…okay, let’s be truthful here…most days, I don’t get to finish that list. But I have learnt to look at my cup as half full as opposed to half empty. At the end of the day, I am thankful to God for how far I have gone and I keep the undone ones in the cooler and start again the next day in as sequential an order as I can manage. In the office, I try to focus on the major issues and leave the rest of the team to handle the clutter (first lesson in how not to micro-manage!). And at home……you will probably wonder at my craziness when you hear my solution to house helps that drive you mad! First, get your children involved in the household chores and cooking…yes, you heard me right: the cooking! I think, from my experience, that this makes the house helps understand that you do have an option in terms of keeping or not keeping them. Then, when we are off to work and school, I lock up the house and she is free to spend her day as she likes…sleeping or anything that takes her fancy. This way I am not upset when I get back about how dirty or clean everywhere looks. The work can start when I get back or over the weekend. Now I know that for those of you who have children, this may not work because you do need someone to be there in the house 24/7 and I get that. So work out a system that works for you and remember that the sooner you can get your children to start cleaning up after themselves, the better. The main focus should be on getting you less aggravated and more relaxed. So eat healthy, walk about 10,000 steps a day (did I hear you say, how? I’ll tell in another post!), catch as much sleep as you can: in the car (when you’re not driving, of course) to work and to and from appointments and try to get to bed early, limit the distractions in your room when it  is bedtime (TV et al) and eat light in the evenings. Most importantly, don’t sweat the small stuff…the report was not done the right way, just show them how; the place was not properly cleaned, tell them to repeat it; the nanny didn’t wash the clothes well, save up for and/or get a washing machine; someone cuts into your lane in traffic…resist the urge to give him some home truths! Who knows….maybe with these, we can actually win the rat race!!!!